Past Shadows, Future Shock
by Buzzsaw
Summary: In this, my very first fanfic, a ghost from Zero's past returns to bring him to the dark side. Little do they or X and his friends know that the wheels are in motion for the final battle against evils past, present, or future!
1. Introduction

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The Intro (well DUH!!!!!!)

Greetings, fellow X and Zero-lovers! Allow me to hold your hand as I guide you through an intriguing story of love, action, triumph, tragedy, magic, technology, and a little insanity woven in!!!

NO! It is NOT a Danielle Steel story! (Ya pervert!)

This is yet another story about those two lovable Maverick Hunters, X and Zero. It presents my own views about how X and Zero were born, and how I believe that it all should end. But wait just a friggin' moment! I ain't gonna give away all of the plot to you! It would ruin everything! You'll have to read the entire story to find out what it is all about! At last I present my directorial (and actorial (ACK!!! I DID IT AGAIN!!!)) debut in this story about Mega Man X and Zero's:

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Past Shadows, Future Shock

By: Buzzsaw the Righteous

and if you still think this is a Danielle Steel novel, I'll sick my dog Drillbit on you! *heehee*

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_The DISCLAIMER - Read this or DIE!_

  


**    The characters Scorch, Royaltie, Auroran Flash, and the city called Enlitia are all personal property of Auroran Flash AKA The greatest fanfic writer on the planet and my Mega Goddess. I asked for permission to use these first and I didn't steal them from her. If I did, Aurie would probably hunt me down and slap me with a big, fat herring right now. Thank you.
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	2. Prologue

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Prologue

Over 100 years ago, Dr. Light had been credited with creating robots that can do any human job more efficiently than anything on Earth, especially the hero robot Mega Man. When his former lab partner, Dr. Albert Wily, made his ulterior motives known and stole Light's industrial robots to take over the world, Dr. Light created Mega Man to battle against the most dangerous of Dr. Wily's machinations and bring him to justice. Since then, Mega Man and Dr. Wily had been bitter and eternal enemies and had fought many grueling battles. One day, however, since the defeat of the StarDroids, Dr. Wily had mysteriously disappeared, and no one had seen or heard from him since the raid on his last Skull Castle ever built. Many people believed that he died of natural causes somewhere, or maybe he committed suicide. Either way, everyone was happy that he was gone, out of sight and out of mind.

Even after all of Dr. Wily's robotic rebellions, Dr. Light still stood firm in his belief that all humans and robots can live together in peace and tranquility if given the chance. Therefore, he created Mega Man X, his first Reploid, a robot that can think, feel, and make their own decisions like a normal human being, in such a way that makes them seem to be human. But Dr. Light knew that if X hurt any human being, there would be very serious and disastrous problems. Dr. Light posted that warning on the capsule designed to run diagnostics and keep X preserved until he was found by someone worthy of creating the Reploid race with care. 100 years later, after a prominent archaeologist/robotic designer named Dr. Cain found X, the old doctor had decided to continue Dr. Light's work. But soon those "disastrous problems" that Dr. Light spoke of would later appear in the form of the Mavericks. The Mavericks are a group of rebellious Reploids that consider all humans and the Reploids who follow them to be inferior. Therefore they must either be enslaved....or eradicated. Led by Sigma and his second-in-command Vile, the Mavericks had been constantly thwarted by Mega Man X and his friend Zero, and the battle still continues to this very day.

But like all great battles, it is bound to come to an end. The war is coming.

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	3. Chapter 1: Three Hunters and a Righteous...

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Chapter 1: Three Hunters and a Righteous(?) Reploid

Anyhow, history lesson aside, let us return to the present. It was 5:00 A.M. at Maverick Hunter Headquarters, which stood in the middle of the city of Enlitia (the city named after Dr. Light) and always had been the facility for training, teaching, and housing Maverick Hunters, and it had been almost a month since the destruction of Repliforce and the 4th defeat of Sigma. Zero, who's still saddened over the loss of Iris and Colonel, laid asleep in a hyperlock chamber, energizing and remaining ever ready for the next battle with the Mavericks.

As Zero laid sound asleep, a bright, blinding flash of light suddenly appeared in the doorway of the chamber room. Zero awakens to this light, opens his hyperlock chamber, and stares at the shadowy figure of a man dressed in a lab coat.

"Zero........my masterpiece." the man said.

"No! Not you again! Who are you! Why are you doing this to me?!!", screamed Zero, having seen the man before, but not his face.

The man continued, "You are now equal to him in power. You are now stronger, faster, and more powerful than you were before. You are now ready to proceed with my master plan!"

"What do you MEAN "master plan"?! I don't even know you! WHO ARE YOU!?", yelled Zero, his head starting to hurt.

The man ignored Zero's retort and continued, "Take the secret weapon with you and take them over. Our enemy is sure to intervene! When he does.....destroy him........that's an order!!" With that, the strange man disappeared without a trace.

"WHAT secret weapon?! WHAT enemy?! Come back!!" Zero lunged forward to where the man was, and was suddenly thrown back by some unseen force. Feeling dazed and confused, Zero looked up to see another shadowy figure appearing before him. This time it seemed to be a robot. Tall, dark, sporting a cape and glowing red eyes, the robot raised a finger at Zero.

"Who are YOU!?" said Zero.

The dark robot said in a low voice, "Our conversion is complete, brother. It is time!"

Zero face began to cringe in anger, "Time for WHA-AAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHH!!!" Zero clutched both sides of his head in pain. His ears ringing, he heard the robot saying the same thing over and over again.

"It's time, Zero! It's time!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Zero suddenly woke up on the floor of the chamber room. Apparently he opened the hyperlock chamber in his sleep and fell out. Zero breathed a sigh of relief, feeling sweat on his forehead.

What do these dreams mean? Who were they? Zero thought to himself as he looked at the sunrise out the windows.

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"What's wrong, Zero?", Mega Man X said in a concerned voice, "You haven't said much to me since we left the barracks, and you look like you've seen a ghost." 

Zero looked in his friend X's eyes as they were walking across MHHQ in the afternoon. Zero knew he had to be straight with him since X knows him well.

"I.....I had that dream again......last night.", Zero said nervously.

"The one about the old man in the lab coat?", X said.

"No! The one about the pink elephants and the gingerbread house! YES, it's the one with the old man!" Zero retorted with a tinge of anger and sarcasm.

"Okay! Okay! You don't have to be so testy!"

Zero rubbed his eyes, "I'm sorry X. It's just that last night's dream was a lot worse than the others."

X continued, "Tell me all about it. I'm here, pal."

"Okay, X. Well, after the old man disappeared, I tried to go after him when I was suddenly thrown back, and then this other shadow appeared. This time it looked like a robot. He kept telling me it was time for.......something, and my head started hurting. That was when I woke up on the floor of the chamber." Zero turned to see X was looking at something.

"X! Are you listening?" Zero said

X was looking at two Reploids standing forty feet away. One of them was red and wearing a visor, the other having long, flowing blonde hair, "Who are those two Reploids over there."

Zero answered him, "Oh them? They joined the 17th unit about a week ago. They really did great in both hand-to-hand combat and weapon firing techniques, and have become highly recommended around here. I think the red guy is named Scorch and the blonde girl is named Royaltie. Why do you ask?"

"Oh. I see." X looked a little puzzled. "I asked because I had a feeling of dejavu, like I saw them from somewhere before." X put his thoughts aside and turned his attention to Zero. "So Zero, about that robot in your dream?"

"Oh yeah. Anyway, I didn't know whether it was a Reploid or wha-what are you doing now!" Zero was stopped to see X hiding in back of him.

"Shhhh....Don't move. It's Aurie!" X whispered.

Zero turned his head to see Auroran Flash skipping merrily down the corner.

"Oh! I see!", Zero said with a sly smirk.

Auroran Flash is a tall, white and purple, very attractive girl Reploid (Okay, flattering remark! Sorry, couldn't help myself) who is highly revered across the HQ as a great Maverick Hunter next to X and Zero. And nearly half of the HQ knows that Aurie has a crush on X, always calling him "Meggy" *heehee*. Aurie approached Zero and happily said, "Hey Zero! Whassup?"

"Oh! Not much, Aurie! Not much!" Zero said sarcastically. "Ya know, X was looking for you!" Zero moved aside to reveal X to Aurie. X shot Zero a dirty look.

"MEGGY!!!", Auroran chirped, running towards X. She jumped in X's arms and said with a giggle, "Were you REALLY looking for me!?"

"Well, actually....I...uh....erggg." X lost his footing and fell to the ground with a thud , with Aurie still in his arms.

"Oof! We gotta stop meeting like this.", said Aurie seductively as she sat on top of X.

X responded, "Yeah, I know! Could you please get off me!"

"Oh! Okay!", with that, Aurie gave X a big smooch on the lips and got up off of him. Zero silently chuckled at the scene before him.

"Well, I gotta go! See ya Zero!" Aurie then turned to X, "Bye, Meggy!" She then winked at him and happily skipped down to the nearby complex.

X got up and said, "I really wish she wouldn't do that! It's embarrassing!" X turned to see Zero laughing to himself.

"This is the best freakin' entertainment I have seen all day!" said Zero laughingly.

"Aw shut up, Zero! Let's just get to the training facility before 3:00 rolls around, okay!?"

"Okay!" Zero paused before saying "Meggy!" and was really laughing hysterically. X gave him a swift kick in the butt and yelled "SHADDUP!"

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As X and Zero entered the large training facility, they noticed sounds of gunfire and clanging metal coming from inside of the arena.

"Looks like someone got here before us." said X.

"Take THAT, battery breath!!" yelled out a voice in the arena.

Zero added sarcastically, "Yep! Sounds like the "righteous" one is having a good day!"

X could tell that he was talking about Buzzsaw. Another high ranking hunter next to X and Zero, Buzzsaw is a tall, brown haired Reploid complete with green and white armor. Buzzsaw is an incredible fighter and always manages to pull through for his unit, especially for a Reploid who has a humongous ego and always calls himself "Buzzsaw the Righteous".

As X and Zero entered the arena, they watched Buzzsaw take on a giant, fully simulated War Mech. The War Mech fired a series of bursts at Buzzsaw, but Buzzsaw did a backflip and avoided the converging blasts.

Buzzsaw retorted, "Nice try, long shanks! Now have a taste of my Enchanted Blade!" With that, he carefully aimed his weapon at the Mech and fired four energy blades at it. The War Mech tried to retaliate but it reacted too late. The blades cut off his arms and shoulder cannons as if they cut through paper, and it reeled back in pain, oil pumping out of its severed limbs.

X was impressed as he watched from afar, "Not bad! In fact he's really good!"

"Yeah! But not as good as me!", responded Zero.

"Alright! Time for the coup de gracy!", said Buzzsaw, drawing out his green sapphire-colored Beam Sabre. He ran towards the limbless monster, made a Herculean leap, and uttered out a battle cry as he drove his Sabre into the giant's head. He then took it out and made several successful slashes as he virtually floated in midair, causing the Mech to fall with a loud "CLANG!!!" and shut down completely. Within seconds, the simulated monster disappeared.

"You were saying, Zero?", said X with a sly grin.

"Ha HAA!!!", yelled Buzzsaw as he victoriously held his Beam Sabre in the air, "Another enemy brought down by the mighty hand of Buzzsaaaaaaaaaw the Righteous!!!!!!"

Zero rolled his eyes, "Aw geez! That guy is so full of himself!"

Buzzsaw turned around to see X and Zero watching him from afar.

"X! Zero! Compadres! What's happening!" Buzzsaw heartily yelled.

X responded, "Hey Buzz! Take down another virtual army this morning?"

"Yeah!", Buzzsaw said boastfully, "In fact, I just might beat my old record next time!"

Zero butted in front of X and said, "And that makes what? The ten-millionth time you broke your so-called old record?"

Buzzsaw remarked, "Hey, come on, Zero! I can't help that I'm so good at what I do!"

"Oh yeah! I bet a free Meredith Brooks CD that you can't beat TWO times your current record!"

"You're on!!", said Buzzsaw. They both smirked slyly as they shook hands. Even though they were both good friends, they were both fiercely competitive, always betting on who would be better at a training simulation.

X turned to his friend and said, "Geez, Zero! Must you two always bet against each other?"

"Aw, come on, X! You know were just having a little-"

Zero and the others stopped to hear alarms ringing out from all areas of the HQ. A lot of alarms ringing usually means an impending, world-threatening attack by the Mavericks.

A voice boomed out over a loudspeaker, "Maverick Hunters Mega Man X, Zero, Auroran Flash, and Buzzsaw!! Report to the Command Center immediately for mission briefing!"

X responded to the call, "Sounds like Mavericks are on the move somewhere!"

Zero said, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

Buzzsaw said, "Nothing! Let's go and blast those Mavericks into submission!" Buzzsaw could never resist the thrill of the fight.

With that, the three Hunters ran out of the training center towards the Command Center as the sirens continued to blare.

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	4. Chapter 2: Goddesses and Mavericks

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Chapter 2: Goddesses and Mavericks

Mega Man X, Zero, and Buzzsaw all wondered at the same time what their mission would be as they rode up the elevator in the Command Center, which served as the very nerve center of Maverick Hunter HQ. When they got to the War Room, Auroran Flash and Dr. Cain were already there to greet them.

"I see you boys finally made it.", said Dr. Cain. Although the seventy-five year old man looked frail and was walking with the use of a cane, Dr. Cain showed great strength in his leadership qualities, and his stature and calm voice make him a productive leader in the movement against the Mavericks.

"Sorry we're late, Doc.", Zero calmly apologized, "But we were caught in the middle of training when we got the call." Dr. Cain nodded his head in agreement as Zero said to Auroran, "Hi Aurie!"

"Hey you guys!" Aurie then turned her attention to X and playfully said "Hi, Meggy!" with a wink and a smile. X covered his eyes in embarrassment as Zero choked back a laugh and Dr. Cain smiled and quietly muttered "Meggy.." while shaking his head.

Buzzsaw approached Aurie and kneeled before her, saying in a Shakespearean tone, "Auroran Flash! My dearest Auroran Flash! The greatest Reploid girl to ever grace the HQ! We meet again!"

Aurie giggled and said, "Aw Buzz! You flatter me so!" X, Zero, and Dr. Cain stood dumbfounded at the scene before them.

"I have destroyed an entire Maverick Army today, just for you, my Mega Goddess!", Buzzsaw mused.

"Good work, mighty Buzzsaw the Righteous! You may touch me.", Aurie stately said as she held out her hand.

"Oh! Thank you, Fair One!" Buzzsaw shyly touched her hand with his finger, then returned to stand near X and Zero.

X whispered in Buzz's ear, "What was that all about?"

Buzzsaw hesitated for a minute, then said, "Um.....well.....can I explain later?"

Dr. Cain interrupted Buzzsaw, saying, "He is right. We must focus on the issue at hand. The future of Reploids and humans is at stake."

All the Maverick Hunters nodded in agreement, then gathered around the circular-shaped Central Computer. Dr. Cain punched in a series of buttons, and within seconds, the holographic image of a tall, cylindrical building surrounded by colorful flags appeared before the five.

Aurie recognized it immediately. "Hey, isn't that the Global Convention Center in the city of Mocpac?"

Dr. Cain said, "Yes. Various world leaders are gathering there tomorrow to discuss various issues, including the future of Reploid/human relations. During Repliforce's coup about a month ago, conciousness and questions started rising about the Reploid race's place among humanity, leading many people to believe that inequality and unacceptance is the reason behind some Reploids turning into Mavericks. Therefore-"

As Dr. Cain talked on about the up and coming Peace Conference, Zero, upon the very mention of Repliforce, had thought back to the final hours aboard the Final Weapon. He thought about Iris, the time when she said, with her last dying breath, that she would have loved to live in a world where only Reploids exist.......with Zero. She then died on the spot, leaving Zero to wonder what he is fighting for. Sigma telling him about his Maverick past........General sacrificing himself to atone for the damage he caused. These memories were enough to make Zero cry.

Choking back the tears, Zero snapped back into reality, and paid attention to the rest of the briefing.

"Do you think the Mavericks will make an attack at the Conference?", X queried.

Dr. Cain closed his eyes and said, "Without a doubt. In fact, I have proof that the Mavericks have already prepared for this event. Look at this."

Dr. Cain motioned his hand towards a vidscreen on one of the computer mainframes. Holding a small remote control, he punched a few buttons on it to display a video news feed on the vidscreen. The feed showed the world leaders getting into their limos, heading for the airport, preparing for the trip to Mocpac City. A handful of media, photographers, Maverick Hunters, and people were there to greet the leaders as they left. Dr. Cain used a laser pointer to point out one particular Reploid in the crowd. This one wore a trenchcoat, but his fedora hat couldn't hide the recognizible feature of a Boba Fett-esque helmet he wore underneath, and his omnious, glowing red eyes.

"VILE!!!" X screamed in utter surprise.

Zero slammed his foot down in anger, "I thought we've seen the last of that purple sack of pus!!!"

"He is very much alive." said Dr. Cain as he turned off the news feed, "And if I'm correct, if Vile has returned, there is no doubt that Sigma might have returned as well, masterminding this entire scheme!"

Buzzsaw jumped in and said, "That doesn't surprise me one bit. That self-righteous, bald-headed @#$%#@* keeps coming back like that freakin' Energizer Bunny!"

Aurie also jumped in and said, "You know, I think Sigma's finally flipped his chrome-plated lid. I mean, this kind of mission is too risky, even for them. Those Mavericks would have to be really crazy to make an attack on a place full of Maverick Hunters. Why, I bet they will be turned into scrap metal the moment they come within ten yards of the Convention Center. That'll teach Siggy a lesson to never mess with us!"

Dr. Cain gave a warm smile and said, "I applaud your optomism, Auroran." He quickly frowned, "But I'm afraid that Spycam Intellegence has reported that Vile and about eight Mavericks are secretly stationed in a dilapidated part of the city now. And Vile is an excellent strategist and leader. He could be able to find numerous ways of infiltrating the Conference, even if it costed him his life and the lives of his comrades. I would sleep better tonight knowing that the leaders of the free world are completely safe.

All four Hunters had bowed their heads in agreement as Dr. Cain continued on.

"Mega Man X, Zero, Auroran Flash, and Buzzsaw. You four are the greatest Hunters ever created. You have excelled far more greatly than any other Hunter here at the HQ, and you have stopped Sigma's plans in the past. You must stop the Mavericks from causing an international tragedy that would soon erupt into global war! You can do it! You can!"

"Don't worry, Doc! We'll protect the Peace Conference from any danger!", X said, holding up his X-Buster.

"I'll put an end to Vile for good!", Zero promised, shaking his fist in the air.

"I'll give those Mavericks a swift slice in the rear and make it hurt REEEEEEEEAAAAAALLLLLLY bad!", shouted Aurie, pointing her Beam Sabre menacingly towards the wall. 

"Those bad guys will never escape the fury of my Enchanted Blade!", Buzzsaw declared, holding up his majestic arm weapon. The others silently laughed at that remark.

"Okay, you four.", Dr. Cain said with a smile, "Be sure to train hard, because you leave for Mocpac City tonight at dusk. Be careful and Godspeed to you all."

The four Hunters saluted Dr. Cain and shouted a hearty "Yes, Sir!" in unison before leaving the Command Center. Later that night, X, Zero, Aurie, and Buzzsaw were at the entrance when the transport arrived. Before he boarded, Buzzsaw bowed before Aurie and said, "Let me say it is an undeniable honor to fight by your side, my Mega Goddess!" Aurie just giggled as she boarded the transport along with Buzzsaw.

X and Zero scratched their heads. "MEGA GODDESS?! That's almost as embarassing as her calling you Meggy!", Zero said with a sputtering laugh.

X smirked at Zero's remark as they both boarded the transport bound for Mocpac City, ready to venture into the unknown mission ahead of them.

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	5. Chapter 3: No Soup For You!!!!!

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Chapter 3: No Soup For You!!!!!

Night has fallen on the gigantic, peaceful city of Mocpac, which is almost 100 miles away from the city of Enlitia. It is approximately 3 A.M. as the full moon shines on the business district of the city. It is there that the majestic Global Convention Center resides. Standing 10 stories tall and surrounded by flags gathered from around the world, the Center is truly a sight to behold, as it will soon be a place where history will probably be made for the good of mankind and Reploid kind.

About a couple of blocks away from the Convention Center, in an old, condemned building, one could almost hear voices and arguments coming from the third floor. Inside, Storm Eagle, Wire Sponge, Volt Catfish, and Split Mushroom were all gathered around a broken table, playing a game of cards to pass the time.

"Got any three's, Featherbrain?", Volt Catfish muttered.

"Go fish, Whiskerface.", Storm Eagle replied.

"Hey that's not funny!", Catfish retorted.

"I know it's not funny!" Storm Eagle hissed, "This is Go Fish! It's the name of the game, stupid! It doesn't apply to you!"

Split Mushroom tried to hold back the two fighting Mavericks, shouting, "Hey hey! Let's not start a ruckus, okay? We're supposed to be quiet."

Calmed down, Eagle and Catfish sat down to resume the game, still glaring at each other with cold, steely gazes.

"Okay.", Mushroom said, "Sponge, it's your turn."

Wire Sponge held up his cards and said, "Okay. Got any five's, Moldybreath?"

Mushroom suddenly jumped up out of his chair, with sheer madness burning in his eyes. "Oh yeah! I'll give you five!", he screamed, holding his hand in Sponge's face, then balling it up into a fist. "About five-in-one in your face if you call me Moldybreath AGAIN, Squashhead!!"

Wire Sponge reeled back, surprised and said, "Hey relax, Fungi! I was just messing with ya!"

Flame Mammoth walked into the room just as Mushroom grabbed Sponge's collar. Storm Eagle and Volt Catfish were trying to restrain the two fighting Mavericks.

Mammoth immediately shushed them and said, "Be quiet, you guys! We're supposed to remain silent at all times. If we ever got spotted by Spycams, we would have a whole army of Maverick Hunters gunning for us. And if they don't kill us, Vile and Sigma sure will."

At that point, the Mavericks stopped fighting each other and let go.

"Sorry, Mammoth.", Storm Eagle said, "We're just stressed out, that's all. It's from hiding out in this building for the past two days, with absolutely NOTHING to do except play cards and insult ourselves."

"Well, don't you worry, Birdy.", Mammoth said in an optomistic tone, "In a few hours, the REAL fun will begin." All the Mavericks nodded their heads to that remark.

At that moment, Frost Walrus burst in with three paper bags held in his giant hand and heartily shouted, "HEY! Who's up for some soup!"

All the Mavericks immediately said, "SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Oops! Sorry." Walrus then dipped his hand into one of the bags and pulled out a covered bowl of soup. "Here's your Chicken Worm Soup, Eagle."

"Aah! Thank you, Frosty.", Storm Eagle said as he took it from Walrus's hand.

"Uuh, Sponge. Here's your Cream of Broccoli."

"Wonderful! This is well worth the wait.", Sponge stately said.

"Okay, who ordered the Electric Eel Soup?"

Volt Catfish beamed, "Ooh! That's me. This is the stuff I kill for."

"Alright. I guess this Cream of Mushroom is yours, little buddy.", Walrus said, holding up a LARGE styrofoam bowl of soup.

Mushroom took it and said, "Ooh! A double helping. Just the way I like it."

Walrus then took out another bowl and uncovered its contents, "Aaaahhhhh! Anchovy Soup! Completely frozen solid. Just like mom would make, if I had a mom." Frost Walrus then threw the paper bags to the side, and then proceeded to eat his food. Flame Mammoth stood there staring at him, disappointed and puzzled.

"Hey, Tuskbreath!", Flame Mammoth said, "Where's my boiling-hot Tomato Soup?!"

Frost Walrus replied while downing that whole ice chunk of soup, "Uhhhhhhhh.....I guess I forgot."

"Well, go back out and get my soup!", Mammoth fumed, "I'm HUNGRY!!!"

"Do you know how hard it was to get all those bowls of soup!"

Having finished their soups, the rest of the Mavericks turned to see the two titans fighting.

"Go get your own, Dumbo!!", Walrus shouted.

"Don't call me Dumbo, Tuskbreath!!", Mammoth yelled.

"Dumbo!!"

"Tuskbreath!!"

"DUMBO!!!"

"TUSKBREATH!!!"

"BOTH of you, SHADDUP!!!"

The two Mavericks (as well as the others) had turned their heads nervously to see Vile, second-in-command to the Mavericks, standing in the doorway with his eyes glowing bright red and his signature shoulder cannon lowered towards them. 

"VILE!!!" Flame Mammoth said in surprise, "Ummm...well...ahhhhh.....uh....you see......"

"SHUT UP!!!", Vile retorted in anger, pointing his shoulder cannon menacingly at the group of robots. "If this weren't a covert operation, I'd blast you all from here to the moon!" With that, both Mammoth and Walrus slunk into a corner, quivering in fear from the tall, purple Maverick.

"Greetings, Commander Vile. Storm Eagle reporting for duty, ready to take down the humans for the freedom of the Reploids, sir!" said the bird Maverick in a soldier's tone. Storm Eagle was the very definition of a suck-up, especially towards Vile.

"As you were." Vile said, his voice a little more calmer. He then cleared the broken table of playing cards and laid down a rolled-up map. He then motioned for all of the Mavericks (including Mammoth and Walrus) to gather around the table.

"Gentlemen", Vile said as he rolled out the map, "As you probably know, in a few hours, we will attack the world leaders at the Global Convention Center and destroy them with extreme prejudice. Once we have blown them to bits, we will retreat to our underground base where we will relax and watch the humans and Reploids blame and destroy each other. After there is nothing left, we will resurface and rebuild the population of Earth with Reploids, and only Reploids. Our race will thrive under the watchful eye of our lord and master, Sigma. We will be victorious!"

All of the Mavericks cheered at that remark, but then clammed up after they remembered that they were supposed to be QUIET.

"B-But Vile.", Flame Mammoth nervously added, "Won't the place be stuffed with Maverick Hunters from top to bottom?"

Vile stared coldly at the nervous elephant, then turned away and said, "Don't worry about it, my persistent pachyderm. We've prepared for this. Have you heard of Serges's new invention, the Stealth Battery?!"

Flame Mammoth bared a stupified expression on his face, "Uhhhhh.........no."

"Very well, then.", Vile then turned to the other Mavericks and explained, "The Stealth Battery allows any flying, swimming, or burrowing Maverick to slip by enemy radar without being detected. Serges had been working on two of them for months, and they test out perfectly. He had installed one in Wheel Gator, who's waiting in the city's sewer system, and he installed another in Blast Hornet, who's patrolling the skies at this time. These two will be the trumpcards we will play to win this war!"

Vile then began to explain his plan as he ran his finger across the map. "Listen up guys, 'cuz I'm only goin' to go over this once. Here's the plan: We will attack the Maverick Hunters outside of the building and keep them busy long enough for Blast Hornet to make a surprise aerial attack from above. Once he 'crashes' the party and keeps the Hunters inside busy, Wheel Gator will sneak under the Convention Center, dig up to the surface from within the sewers, and plant two plastique explosives on the stage where the world leaders will be. Once they're planted, we will have five seconds to escape. Wheel Gator will give us the signal when the bombs are active and that's our cue to vamoose! The ensuing blast will leave nothing but piles of rubble and scores of dead bodies. It will be beautiful. Ho BOY will it be beautiful.............."

Vile snapped out of his 'tender' moment and turned to the others and said, "Well, guys? Do you like my little plan?"

There was a bunch of "Yea's" and "Uhhuh's" and "Yep's" among the crowd. There was even one who said "Sigma will be proud!"

All that was interrupted by a beeping noise on Vile's wrist. Vile turned on his communicator and the venomous face of Blast Hornet appeared on the small monitor.

"What is it, Hornet? I'm a busy Maverick!", Vile said.

"Zzzorry to interrupt your meeting, Vile", Blast Hornet nervously said, "But I've detected Maverick Hunterzzzzz on my zzzzzzcanners!"

"WHAT?!!", screamed Vile. He then turned and stared at the other Mavericks coldly.

"Uhhh...I think we're busted.", said Flame Mammoth stupidly.

"Remind me to kill you ALL later!" Vile then turned his attention to Hornet. "How many are there and where are they?!"

Hornet continued, "There are four of them: Mega Man X, Zzzzzzzzero, a purple one, and a green one. They're walking towardzzzzz the Convention Zzzzzzenter. Shall I attack immediately?!"

"No Hornet!" Vile insisted, "Maintain your position and do not attack! You're too important to this mission! Call Wheel Gator and tell him to get to the rendezvous point at the appointed time, get the bombs, and stay hidden until it's time for the mission! More importantly, order him not to attack!"

Blast Hornet simply saluted as he fizzled out of Vile's communicator. Vile then turned to the other Mavericks in the room, who were huddled next to each other in fear.

"W-W-What'll we do, boss?" Split Mushroom said nervously.

"I'll tell you what we'll do, Moldybreath!", said Vile as he cocked his shoulder cannon, "We're gonna take out those pain-in-the-@$$ Maverick Hunters once and for all! Two of you each take a Maverick Hunter and take them out! Sponge! Get down to the alley at the appointed time and make sure Gator gets those bombs. Without them our mission will be lost!"

Frost Walrus added, "What will YOU do, Vile?!

"Mega Man X is MINE!!", Vile said, his eyes glowing an ominous red.

".....and mine ALONE!!!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Proceed To Chapter 4!

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	6. Chapter 4: Boba Fett No More

****

Chapter 4: Boba Fett No More

X, Zero, Auroran, and Buzzsaw were walking down the deserted street in the highly-populated city of Mocpac, heading towards the Global Convention Center that stood only a mile away. During their little stroll, Buzzsaw felt an overwhelming urge to say something to his comrades. He hates silence in all its forms. Even though they were seemingly heading into another suicide mission with a battle in their minds, Buzzsaw decided that he should break the ice. He would rather die in battle than die of sheer boredom.

"Hey X! What time is it?" Buzzsaw asks.

X looks into his internal timing mechanism and says, "It's 4:30 in the morning, Buzz. The sun should be rising soon."

"Oh. Okay.", Buzzsaw's conversation may not have been productive, but at least it gave way for X to say:

"So, Buzzsaw. What was with that act you pulled with Aurie earlier? I mean, why did you kneel before her and call her your "Mega Goddess"?"

Realizing that the question was inevitable, Buzzsaw took X's hand and gently pulled him away until they were about two feet away and out of earshot from Aurie and Zero. He then whispered in X's ear, saying:

"She saved my life."

"She WHA..." Buzzsaw covered X's mouth before he yelled out. He then replied:

"Remember the third Maverick War against Dr. Doppler? Well, I was stationed with my unit on the outskirts of Doppler Town, and we were ordered to destroy any enemy tank or plane that tried to leave the town. Before she joined the 17th unit, Aurie was stationed with me. That's how we met and how we became best friends. Anyway, we were on patrol when several Doppler planes ambushed us out of nowhere. Man, X! Me and Aurie were unstoppable that day. We took down plane after plane, but in the heat of battle, I didn't notice a lone Doppler plane hovering in back of me until it was too late. It fired a stun blast in my back and I thought I was finished. But then Aurie stepped in and protected me, firing a Level 5 blast at the thing and she looked after me until a transport came to save us. She reminds me so much of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and battle. That's why she's my Mega Goddess, and why I'm so in debt to her."

X reeled back, surprised, and said, "Gosh, Buzz. I didn't know. I thought maybe you were in love with her."

Buzzsaw replied, "Nah. I'm not in love with her. I already know she's in love with you." X blushed at that remark. Buzz then took X by the shoulders and said, "But remember this X. I'm trying to keep my righteous reputation at the HQ as a great warrior, and if you tell ANYONE about the story I just told you, I will take a two-ton herring and beat you to death with it, got it?!"

"Sure, Buzz!", X said without a budge, "Cross my mechanical heart and hope to-"

"Hey guys! Here's the Convention Center up ahead!" Aurie yelled, interrupting their conversation.

The four Reploids stood in awe at the cylindrical-shaped building. Zero moved towards Aurie and said, "How come you know so much about this building, Aurie?"

Aurie turned towards Zero and said, "I come to Mocpac City a lot. Haven't you noticed all the times I was gone from the HQ when I'm on leave? I love coming to the nightclubs here and seeing the sights. The dancing and music is spectacular, and the ancient and newly made buildings are a wonder! Though I wish I could spend all that time with X. I mean...."

Zero immediately interrupted her and said, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of all this waiting! I wanna see some action!" Zero then stood in the middle of the street and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLE!!!"

The three hunters reeled back in surprise to Zero's cry. Buzzsaw then grabbed him by the shoulders and yelled, in his face, "Thanks a lot, Zero! I may never have the hiccups again!" Suddenly, the sound of two loud clangs happened behind the four and they whirled around to see two giant, portly Reploids standing before them.

"Hello, boys and girls!", said Flame Mammoth, "This is the perfect morning to melt you all into metal puddles!"

"And once he's done," Frost Walrus added, "I'll freeze what's left and make metal plates, then I'll toss you into the wind like fun little frisbees. Heh heh heh!"

At that second, the rest of the Mavericks jumped in to join their comrades, and a purple streak appeared in front of the group and soon materialized into Vile, his cold, red eyes staring evilly at the four Maverick Hunters.

"Looks like the Brady Bunch has arrived!", Buzzsaw sarcastically said, donning his signature helmet and mask. Zero and Aurie also stood ready for battle as X added, "Don't you know there are humans trying to sleep in this part of town?"

Annoyed by that remark, Vile said, "Aw, gee!! I'm sorry X! Did you forget that we Mavericks don't freakin' CARE ABOUT THE FREAKIN' HUMANS?!!" He then ran his hand across his shoulder cannon, his eyes gleaming in an ominous red light, and said "So, are you four losers ready to DIE!!"

"No way, T-Face!" Zero yelled, "You're NOT gonna ruin us! And you're certainly NOT gonna ruin the peace process!"

"Oooooh! You're as tough as ever, aren't you Zero!?", Vile retorted, "If you wanna stop us, you'll have to catch us, if you DARE!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" With that, he, Storm Eagle, and Split Mushroom ran further down the street.

"Let's get 'em, X!", Buzzsaw yelled as he ran after the Mavericks. X nodded and ran with him.

"Hey! Come back here you cowards!", Zero yelled as he ran after Wire Sponge and Volt Catfish.

"Hey you guys!! Why do I always have to fight the BIG boys!", Aurie yelled as she stood ready to fight Flame Mammoth and Frost Walrus.

The fight for peace has begun.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Buzzsaw was suddenly surrounded by a dozen Soul Bodies created by Split Mushroom. The Maverick then motioned for them to attack as X appeared to help out.

"Leave him alone!", X yelled as he ran towards Mushroom. Suddenly, he was thrown two blocks back by Storm Eagle's Storm Tornado.

"Take THAT, Mega Dork X!", sneered Storm Eagle as he flew above X's head. The bird Maverick then proceeded to spit out an egg that released a slew of bird drones and sent them after X.

At that same moment, Buzzsaw was jumping and backflipping to avoid Mushroom's destructive copies. Some of the copies had hit him as they flung themselves towards him, and was weakening him. After the fight, Mushroom casually walked towards Buzzsaw, who was bruised and kneeling in pain, and said, "Don't you worry, Greenie! My split personalities will put you out of your misery! Heh heh!" The Maverick then created a dozen more Soul Bodies.

Seeing Mushroom's hand motions, Buzzsaw thinks to himself. "_Maybe he is controlling his copies mentally. If I could only break his concentration...._"Buzzsaw then gathered the last of his strength, raised his head, and yelled:

"Is that the best you got, MOLDYBREATH!!!"

Suddenly, the Soul Bodies dissapated, and Split Mushroom, with sheer hate burning in his eyes, waved his arms frantically in anger and yelled, "DON'T..........CALL.......ME........."

Suddenly, in a sapphire flash, Split Mushroom stopped and looked in horror at the giant gash across his stomach. Buzzsaw had taken advantage of Mushroom's angry outburst and sliced him with his Beam Sabre. Storm Eagle turned his attention away from X and watched in disbelief as Mushroom fell to the pavement. His last words being "....moldy......breath....", the Maverick then closed his eyes and shut down.

Storm Eagle screamed, in true bird-like nature, "You.....YOU MURDERING POSTULE!!! AWWWWWWWKKKKKK!!!", and then swooped angrily towards Buzzsaw. Buzzsaw aimed his "Enchanted Blade" at the Maverick and fired several rounds of energy blades. Within seconds, the mutilated corpse of Storm Eagle fell to the ground.

X yelled out, "Top notch work, Buzz! You are great!" Buzzsaw gave a thumbs-up and said "Thanks, X!" At that moment, another Maverick corpse fell from the sky and landed in between the two hunters with a loud thud.

It was Blast Hornet. Apparently some stray energy blades that missed Storm Eagle had angled into the sky and flew towards Blast Hornet. Being too focused on the mission, he had reacted too late and was hit by the spinning blades.

With a surprised look on his face, X said, "Let me rephrase that. You are RIGHTEOUS!!!" Buzzsaw, also surprised, simply smiled at the remark.

"MEGA MAN X!!! COME OUT AND FACE ME!!!"

X and Buzz whirled around to see Vile standing in the middle of the street, his red eyes glaring and his white-gloved fists clenched in sheer frustration. 

"Stand aside, Buzzsaw!" X said, charging his X-Buster. He then continued to say:

"Go and help Aurie. This purple bag of puke is MINE!!!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"Let go of me, Squash for brains!!"

"Not until after I break you like the weak pinata you are! Ha ha ha!"

Wire Sponge was swinging Zero around and around by the legs with his Strike Chain. Zero tried in vain to cut it with his Beam Sabre, but he dropped it when he hit a nearby fire escape. Volt Catfish had picked it up and placed it in his rather huge mouth, eating it, in hopes of consuming and gaining its energy. This gave him an idea.

"Hey, Sponge! I got an idea!", Volt Catfish yelled, "That Electric Eel soup didn't really satisfy my appetite. I'm now in the mood for the main course! Throw Zero over here!"

Sensing his plan, Sponge replied, "Right, Catfish! Bon appetit!" Sponge then let go of his Strike Chain and let Zero fall haplessly into Catfish's gaping maw. Only Zero's blonde hair was sticking out of Catfish's mouth as he closed it and proceeded to take his energy.

A split second later, Volt Catfish's previous maneuver became his biggest mistake. Zero grabbed his Beam Sabre from within and did a successful Spin Slash maneuver, turning Catfish into a bloody, metallic sushi. Zero stood disoriented, covered in circulatory fluids, and with some of his energy drained as Wire Sponge looked in extreme horror at the spectacle before him.

"You....YOU KILLED HIM!!! WHY I'LL......I'LL....."

"You'll what, cucumber head?" said Zero as he gained his bearings and pointed his Beam Sabre menacingly at the stammering Maverick. Suddenly, a beep emitted from Sponge's wrist. He looked at it and said "5:00 already?!!" He then turned his attention again to Zero and said, "I'LL.....deal with you later!" Sponge then ran down the alley and around the corner, but not before releasing three pods into the ground.

"Hey! I'm not through with you yet! Come back here!", Zero yelled as he ran after him. He suddenly felt something catch his leg and he looked down to see three Scorpion Roots clutching his legs. Zero took his Beam Sabre and sliced the three roots, freeing his legs, then proceeded further down the alley to find Wire Sponge opening a manhole with one hand and holding two black and red objects with the other.

With a shrill cry, Zero lunged towards Sponge and tackled him. The Maverick screamed in absolute terror as Zero slashed him over and over, eventually killing him. Zero stood up and triumphantly said, "That's one weed whacked!" He then heard a noise and whirled around.

It was Wheel Gator. 

"Yeah! You whacked my pal! Now I'm gonna whack YOU, ya dumb blonde!" He then outstretched his arms and fired several Spin Wheels at Zero. Zero jumped several times to avoid them, and, in his last jump, had accidentally landed on one of the black objects still clutched in Wire Sponge's mangled hand. Picking it up and seeing it beep and flash, he came to a conclusion and yelled:

"IT'S A BOMB!!!"

"Uh oh! I'm outta here!!" Wheel Gator yelled as he started to run away.

Acting quickly, Zero flung the bomb like a frisbee towards Gator and yelled, "Catch, Leatherhead!" The bomb hit Gator on the back and exploded upon impact with great force. Gator's smoking, mangled body fell to the floor and laid there, motionless.

"Cool! I guess you're nothin' but luggage now, huh?!", said Zero sarcastically. He then picked up the other bomb in Sponge's hand (carefully) and said, "I think you'll come in handy, later."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ack....let go......stupid......trunkfaced.......can't.....breathe....."

Auroran kicked and punched Flame Mammoth in desperation as the large Maverick clamped her neck and squeezed it tighter with every minute. Aurie saw her world becoming black and felt her lungs were about to burst.

"Hey c'mon, Mammoth! I want a piece of the action!", Frost Walrus said as he watched.

"Take a hike, Tuskbreath! She's mine!" he replied as he squeezed Aurie's neck even tighter.

Walrus ignored the elephant's retort, pointed his shoulder at Aurie, and fired a Frost Tower at her. The recoil from the shot, however, caused the Frost Tower to fly towards the pavement where Mammoth was standing and the impact caused him to release Aurie. She laid on the ground, gasping for air and rubbing her bruised neck.

Mammoth turned his attention to a dumbfounded Frost Walrus and angrily yelled, "Look at what you made me do, Tuskbreath!"

Walrus answered back, "It's your fault, Dumbo! You were hogging all the fun!!"

"Well, that's for not getting my soup earlier, Tuskbreath!!!"

"You're still mad about that, Dumbo!!!"

"Don't call me Dumbo, TUSKBREATH!!!"

"Oh, okay! FAT@$$!!!"

"ALLRIGHT!!! THAT'S IT!!!"

Flame Mammoth then lunged at Frost Walrus and soon after that, the two giant Reploids were rolling on the ground, punching each other and exchanging insults. As this occurred, Aurie regained her senses, got up, and aimed her blaster at the two feuding Mavericks, saying:

"HEY, fellas! It's kinda funny seeing you two fat ^%#($#@ fighting, and I really hate to break it up, but I will anyway!" She then smiled as she fired a Level 5 blast at the two, sending them flying over the horizon. Their crash landing a long distance away caused a tremor that shook half the city.

"Boy, those two really need to go on a diet!", Aurie said with a giggle. Buzzsaw ran to her and said, "Are you okay, Aurie?!"

"I'm somewhat bruised, but I'm okay.", she said, rubbing her sore neck, "Are you alright, mighty Buzzsaw the Righteous?"

"I always remain in good shape for you, my Mega Goddess." Buzzsaw mused as he bowed before her.

All silliness aside, Aurie inquired, in a concerned tone, "Where's X? Where's Zero?"

Buzzsaw wore a concerned look as well and said, "Zero ran after Wire Sponge and Volt Catfish in that alley over there. I heard an explosion and found Wheel Gator along with the two Mavericks all mangled up in the alley, and I couldn't find Zero anywhere, so I assume he's okay. As for X, he......."

Buzzsaw stopped as he and Aurie heard screaming coming from further down the street. It was X.

"MEGGY!!! Hang on!! We're coming!!", Aurie screamed as she and Buzzsaw ran towards X's location.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

As the sun rose in the pre-dawn sky, Vile was in the street, constantly punching and kicking X in a mad rage. A badly dented X fired a Level 3 X-Buster blast at the purple Reploid, knocking him back a few feet. Angered by that, Vile fired back a Level 4 Shoulder Cannon blast, knocking X into a brick wall.

"Leave my Meggy alone, you psycho!!!", Aurie screamed as she and Buzzsaw lunged after him.

Vile aimed his Module Launcher (the weapon resting on his other shoulder) at Buzzsaw and Aurie and fired a grenade at them. It exploded in a bright flash of light, blinding the two Hunters.

Vile then fired a Level 5 Shoulder Cannon blast at them, sending them flying back to the Convention Center square and leaving them unconscious.

"Patience!", Vile yelled, "I'll save you two for dessert! Right now, X is my main course!" He then walked towards a weak and badly injured X, who was coughing up internal fluids and tried in vain to get back on his feet. Alas, his energy was dangerously low and his reserves weren't taking effect. All X could do was crawl away. Vile maniacally laughed at X's futile attempt to get away and said, "I've waited a loooooong time to see you defeated and cowering before me." He then picked up X and yelled in his face, "Beg for mercy!!! SCREAM MY NAME!!!"

"...Never...", X weakly said.

Sudddenly, Vile was knocked back by a Level 5 plasma blast, dropping X to the ground in the process. His armor smoking and eyes glowing, Vile angrily looked up towards the sky to see who blasted him and ruined his chance to destroy his worst enemy.

It was Scorch. The visor-wearing, red Reploid jumped from a building and landed near X. He pointed at Vile, shouting, "Leave him alone, you monster!!"

One could sense the sheer anger and madness burning inside Vile at that moment. "You'll pay for that, Visor Face!!!" He fired a Level 5 blast at Scorch, but Scorch deflected it with his shield.

"You can't hide behind that shield forever!!", Vile screamed. At that moment, Zero appeared a few feet behind Vile, still holding the bomb in his hand. He decided it was time to finish Vile once and for all.

Zero pushed the red button on the bomb and yelled, "Hey, Boba Fett! Catch!" He then flung the bomb towards Vile. Vile quickly turned and fired a Shoulder Cannon blast meant for Zero, but it hit the bomb instead as it flew in mid-air, and it exploded with great force. Zero shielded his eyes from the blast and after a few minutes he looked up at the sight before him. A screaming Vile was suddenly flying across the morning sky, and had landed a few blocks away in a loud clang. On the ground, Zero noticed something that Vile left behind before his 'trip'.

His helmet.

Zero picked it up, threw it in the air, drew his Beam Sabre, and sliced it in two as it fell down. He then yelled out:

"Rest in pieces, Vile!"

Zero ran towards Scorch, who was tending to X. Zero said, "Are you okay, Scorch?"

Scorch nodded. "I'm okay. But X is not. We have to take him back to the HQ immediately."

Zero continued, "What about Buzzsaw and Aurie. Are they okay?"

"They're unconscious, but okay. Royaltie is tending to them now." said Scorch as he carried X in his arms.

Zero turned his back and said, "Thanks for your help, Scorch. Thank you for saving X and my friends. Now take them back to the HQ, and take care of them. I'll catch up later." He then proceeded to run down the street.

Scorch yelled, "What will you do?!"

"I'm gonna make sure Vile STAYS dead this time!!!", Zero yelled as he ran.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Zero found his way to where Vile landed and saw his smoking, lifeless body lying face-up on the ground. Zero peered over, with Beam Sabre drawn, to see Vile's face for the very first time without his helmet. Aside from the usual red eyes, Vile's face was almost featureless, with silver streaks running down on each side of his head. What was more distinguishing was the glass dome atop Vile's head, which revealed his computerized brain. At that moment, Vile's eyes lit up and he began to stir.

Zero stood ready with his Sabre and yelled, "C'mon Vile! Let's finish this NOW!!"

Vile raised his head and muttered, "I.......remember.....now. I.......am......free!"

"What are you...ACK!!!" Zero was suddenly thrown back into the brick wall by some unseen force. Dazed and confused, Zero looked up to see Vile, on his feet, with his arms outstretched, screaming, in a low, monotone voice:

"I remember now!!! I AM FREEEEEE!!!"

As he screamed, Vile's eyes shone brighter than before, his exposed brain flashed on and off, and his entire body was bathed in a bright flash of spectral light. Zero merely sat there and gaped in awestruck silence as Vile disappeared and a new robot appeared in his place.

Vile was now colored in a more darker shade of purple, and he grew a few inches taller. His white gloved hands were replaced with metallic, sharp-taloned hands, and his shoulder weapons were gone, replaced with a black cape flowing free in the breeze. The shoulders themselves were broad and spike-lined, and his face was more darker with silver streaks, with the signature red eyes gleaming brighter than before, and his brain-in-a-glass-dome flashing different-colored lights on and off. His battle wounds and dents were magically healed, and he stood more stately and overshadowing than Vile would ever have stood.

Zero, still shocked by the spectacle before him, suddenly flashed back to the dream he had for many nights. About the old man in the lab coat.....about the strange robot that appeared. He suddenly realized......

"VILE! You're the robot from my dream??!!"

The dark robot answered back, in a calm, low voice, "Vile is no more. That persona had been destroyed. Now only stands my true form! My true persona!" He raised his hand and said, "My true POWER!!"

Suddenly, Zero was lifted into the air, and was levitating about a few feet above the ground. He was helpless, his Beam Sabre thrown to the ground, and his joints frozen. All he could do was scream, "WHO ARE YOU!!"

The robot answered back, "I am Dark Phantom! The TRUE master of the Reploid race!"

That name kept echoing in Zero's mind over and over again as he continued to float helplessly in mid-air.

Dark Phantom.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Proceed To Chapter 5!

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	7. Chapter 5: The Rise of the Phantom

****

Chapter 5: The Rise of the Phantom

As the morning sun shone completely over the city of Mocpac, Zero was still levitating helplessly in mid-air by the means of the Reploid warrior formerly known as Vile. Recently, Vile, second-in-command of the Mavericks, led a Maverick terrorist attack on the up and coming Peace Conference at the Global Convention Center in Mocpac. However, Mega Man X, Zero, Auroran Flash, and Buzzsaw learned of their plan ahead of time and came to put a stop to it. While X fought Vile in the streets, the other three fighters had destroyed the other Mavericks, one by one. During the brutal battles, Zero found a plastique explosive in the alley meant for the destruction of the world's leaders in the Convention Center, and had decided to take it with him as he ran to help X. X was losing against Vile, who laughed maniacally as X tried to crawl away, but received help from the mysterious Reploid Scorch just in the nick of time. Zero appeared behind Vile as this was happening, activated the bomb, and threw it at Vile. The ensuing blast sent Vile flying across the sky and had landed a couple of blocks away. Zero ran to him and expected him to be dead, but Vile somehow survived, and had used some mysterious and supernatural force to heal his wounds, change his appearance, and cause Zero to float in mid-air, disabled and helpless. 

He declares that Vile is no more, and that Dark Phantom only remains.

Phantom motioned his hand and suddenly Zero floated towards the dark robot. He dimmed his eyes as he said:

"Zero. My brother. It has been such a long time."

Zero couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He could barely breathe. All he could do was think.

Brother?? Who is this guy? Why is he in my dream? Why is he doing this to me? Zero thought.

"I'm doing this because it's the only way to get your attention.", Dark Phantom said.

Zero was surprised. Phantom knew what he was thinking!

Phantom continued, "But I guess we're not going to get anywhere with you hanging around all day. Please sit down and relax." He then lowered his hand and Zero fell to the ground. 

Zero gasped for air and was regaining his strength as he said, "How....did you do that?!"

Phantom answered back, "I carry a great, ancient power that has been within me since the "master" created me. But I could no longer use that power since I was imprisoned."

"What do you mean "imprisoned"?, Zero inquired.

"Several years ago, I attacked Maverick Hunter HQ in an attempt to cripple their advances and get you out of there. However, I was taken by surprise and was almost killed by a Maverick Hunter named Sigma. The very same Maverick Hunter that stole my master's secret weapon and definitely still has it to this day. When I awoke, I was strapped to a table and couldn't use my powers. Sigma stood above me with his eyes glaring, and he told me I would be the first weapon in his crusade to cleanse the world of humans, but I needed alterations. I watched, consciously and helplessly as he painfully modified my body into that of a powerful war Reploid. He then created a new personality and imprinted it in my CPU, which in turn, imprisoned my own personality. This fanatical persona became the murderous Reploid known as...."

"Vile.", Zero finished.

"Yes.", Dark Phantom said.

Zero suddenly flashed back to the dream he had. He remembered the old man saying something about a "secret weapon". What does Dark Phantom know? He thought.

"Are you trailing off, Zero?", said Dark Phantom. "You're thinking about the dream you've been having, are you?" 

Zero turned to Phantom, and felt a flame of anger burning in his mind. He said in response, "Yes, and I am sick and tired of all these dreams!!! What is the secret weapon!? How come you know so much about me?! I want answers! NOW!!!"

"Hey! I think he's over here!", shouted a voice from around the corner. Scorch and Royaltie appeared at the end of the alley.

"VILE!!!", Scorch yelled, "You'll pay for trashing my bro!!!", He leveled his Arm Cannon and fired a Level 5 blast at Dark Phantom, only to be stopped by a glowing wall of purple energy.

Phantom, with his arm raised, said, "I believe I am now unwelcome here. I must go."

Zero yelled, "WAIT! You didn't answer my questions!" Zero lunged at Phantom, only to be forced back, lightly, by Phantom's telekinetic powers.

"Your questions will be answered soon enough, brother. We will meet again." With that, Phantom crossed his arms and disappeared in a swirl of smoke and purple light.

"Phantom!!! STOP!!!", Zero yelled. The energy wall had dissapated and Scorch and Royaltie ran to Zero's aid.

"Zero! Are you okay?", Scorch inquired.

Royaltie bumped in and asked, "Zero? What happened here? And where's Vile?"

Zero didn't listen to them. He kept focused on what Phantom said before he left.

Brother? Zero thought. _Why did he call me "brother"?_

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"You ignorant fools!! You have failed me miserably!!"

Inside Serges's lab in Maverick Headquarters, Frost Walrus and Flame Mammoth are getting quite a tongue lashing from Sigma, the infamous leader of the Mavericks and cruel killer of Hunters and humans everywhere, and are quite fearful of him despite the fact that they are larger than he is.

Frost Walrus tried to explain, "W-We're sorry, S-S-Sigma. But we were caught by surprise by those Maverick Hunters! They were too....."

Sigma stopped him and yelled, "That would never have happened if the entire mission remained COVERT! That means you're supposed to remain QUIET and OUT OF SIGHT, and it's obvious you two imbeciles don't know the MEANING of the word!" Sigma walked towards the mainframe on the wall and pushed a few buttons, revealing a Spycam clip he had pirated on the vidscreen. The clip showed a dark street in the city of Mocpac, and Frost Walrus in a trenchcoat walking out of a place called "SOUP NAZI'S DELICATESSEN".

"The Spycams caught YOU coming out of the neighbourhood deli!" Sigma said as he thrust an accusing finger at Frost Walrus. The icy robot blushed and nervously said "oops".

Sigma turned his attention toward the mainframe again, punched a few more buttons, and a clip of Mammoth and Walrus fighting in the streets appeared on the vidscreen.

Sigma then said, "The Spycams also caught this interesting scene. The scene of you two fighting in the streets while you were supposed to be fighting Maverick Hunters! And this purple weakling of a Reploid could've been destroyed then and there by you two! But she ended up blasting you halfway across the city instead!"

Sigma stared at them evilly while Mammoth and Walrus wore dumbfounded, scared looks on their faces.

"Would any of you care to explain?!!", Sigma said in an aggrivated tone.

Frost Walrus jumped up and said, "Actually Sigma, that wouldn't have happened if Mammoth here didn't lose his temper!"

Flame Mammoth butted in and said, "Wait a minute! I wouldn't have lost my temper if HE hadn't fired his stupid Frost Tower at me, causing me to let go of that Hunter!"

"I wouldn't have fired if YOU let me have a piece of the action, Dumbo!"

"I would've let you fight if you let me have some soup, Tuskbreath!"

"Aw, shaddup about the soup, Dumbo! No one cares anymore!"

The two continued to go at each other's throats as Sigma uttered a low-pitched growl and unsheathed his Beam Sabre. 

*Sheesh! I'm saying "Beam Sabre" one too many times. Bloody favouritism!*

*I'll stop ranting now. Let's get back to the story!*

"DUMBO!"

"TUSKBREATH!"

"FAT@$$!!"

"ICECHUNKY BA-"

Suddenly, in a bright slash of light, the two Mavericks suddenly stopped arguing and fell to the ground, and their heads came falling after *heehee lil' nursery rhyme quote there*. Sigma had severed their heads with his Beam Sabre.

"THERE! Now I should have some peace and quiet!", yelled Sigma as he twirled his (ahem!) weapon.

At that moment, Serges, one of the X-Hunters and main scientific expert for the Mavericks, walked into the lab.

"Oh dear!", said Serges, "And I just cleaned this lab yesterday!" Suddenly, Serges's disgust became fear as Sigma whirled around and pointed his Sabre menacingly at the diminuitive 

Maverick.

"As for you, Serges!", yelled Sigma, "You have failed me also! Gator and Hornet were found destroyed along with the others! Your Stealth Batteries were useless against the Maverick Hunters!"

Serges added nervously as he stared at Sigma's Sabre, "B-But that can't be! They've tested out perfectly in the trials! I've tested them ten times with no flaws! They were foolproof, I tell you! T-T-The Hunters must've just been.....well......lucky!

Sigma, having calmed down a bit, drew back his Beam Sabre and sheathed it as he said, "Hah! In my experience there's no such thing as luck!"

"I wouldn't say that, Sigma." said a voice from out of nowhere.

Sigma whirled around at the sound of the voice, yelling out, "Who said that?! Who's there?!"

Suddenly, a purple light appeared before Sigma and Serges, and soon materialized into a dark robot with a cape. It was Dark Phantom.

"Luck comes in all forms. Even for Reploids and Mavericks alike.", said Dark Phantom as Sigma unsheathed his Beam Sabre.

Pointing it at Dark Phantom, Sigma yelled, "Who are you?!"

Obviously unmoved by Sigma's threatening gesture, Dark Phantom calmly said, "You don't remember me? You should, since I fought you once before. I am the warrior you once knew as Vile, the maniac you transformed me into. I am the warrior you defeated all those years ago during your transition into a Maverick. I am Dark Phantom!"

Sigma, surprised and drawing back his (well, you know!), said, "Dark Phantom? Ah yes....YES! I remember you now! You were the perfect first addition to my army! I see you got rid of the modifications I gave you all those years ago."

Phantom's eyes glowed bright red at Sigma's sentence, and retorted, "Gave? You made these modifications on me against my will! And while I was awake I may add! You made me into a monster, killing any human that stood in VILE'S way, doing horrible things that I, as my true self, would NEVER do!!"

Sigma smiled and said, "Yes! Vile was my greatest warrior. He killed more humans and Maverick Hunters than any one here. He made me as proud as a son to his father. Why he would be the heir to my throne if Vile were still here. Ah.....the perfect heir.....the perfect son....." Sigma was suddenly enraptured in a tender moment.

"Well, guess what, Sigma?!" Phantom yelled, "Now that the "Vile" persona is destroyed, your "great warrior" will soon become your greatest enemy, and your mad dream will eminently become your living nightmare!!"

"I seriously doubt it, my dark friend!", said Sigma as he raised his Beam Sabre. He then sliced Dark Phantom in the middle, only to slice through dead air. Agitated, he sliced again and again but couldn't make a scratch. Sigma couldn't understand why he couldn't kill Phantom, then he looked at him and suddenly realized that Phantom had molecularly dephased himself, turning himself into a real "phantom".

"Nice try, Sigma!", said Phantom, laughing under his breath, "Because of my powers, you can no longer touch me. But I can touch YOU!" With that, Phantom raised his arm and telepathically threw Sigma at a wall with violent force, and then fired a purple blast of energy at him. The blast hit with such force that Sigma crashed through two walls. He suddenly felt half of his energy depleted as he laid there! Dark Phantom's powers had a profound effect on his systems......even the Sigma Virus that makes up almost all of Sigma himself!

As Sigma tried to get up, Dark Phantom waved his hand in front of Serges. 

Serges nervously asked, "W-What are you going to do to me?"

Dark Phantom replied, "I'm going to show you your true destiny, Serges." With that, Serges suddenly disappeared in a haze, as well as the limp, decapitated bodies of Flame Mammoth and Frost Walrus. Sigma recovered from his bout, still dazed and confused, and suddenly realized what happened.

"What? How? Why?", stuttered Sigma.

Dark Phantom peered at Sigma with bright red eyes and said, "Surprised, Sigma? You should be, since I've decided not to destroy you.....yet! I want you to live to see your henchmen, rebuilt and converted into Mavericks more powerful than ever before. I want you to live to see us take over everything around you and destroy the Maverick Hunters, and make you suffer as I have suffered. Then I will destroy you! You had better lick your wounds and say your prayers, because your humiliation and defeat is your future!"

Sigma's face cringed in anger at Phantom's declaration, but couldn't retaliate because of Phantom's arcane prowess (-those two previous words mean magic, OK?) affecting his systems.

"And the future is inevitable! HA HA HA HA!", said Dark Phantom as he disappeared in a swirl of smoke and light. Sigma was now alone in the now ruined lab.

"It's impossible!" Sigma said to himself. "How could he affect my systems? How could my energy be down by so much like that??!" He then calmed down and wore an expression of pure evil on his face. "Well, he won't defeat me! I always knew that strange Reploid would get his old persona back someday, and I have fortunately prepared for that occasion! Dark Phantom is going to play right in my hands! He will be the one to unwittingly give me the one power I need to destroy my enemies and rule the world once and for all!!! Hm hm hm hm hm ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Still confused, Serges looked around as to where he appeared at. Surveying the building, he concludes that he might be in an abandoned warehouse somewhere, but he doesn't know for sure. As he thought about what Dark Phantom has in store for him, Serges wandered into an open-door room and suddenly reeled back in shock. Inside the room there were eight tables, four of which were each lined up on each wall, and on the tables were what Serges was horrified to see:

It was the eight Mavericks that the Maverick Hunters defeated earlier. Their tattered, torn, mutilated bodies laid there like bodies in a sickly disorganized morgue.

As Serges backed out of the room, he was suddenly stopped by a figure behind him. He whirled around and fell to the ground to see Dark Phantom appearing before him. The dwarfish Maverick tried in vain to crawl away from the dark robot.

"W-What do you want from me?!", cried Serges.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Serges.", said Phantom casually. "I need your help."

Serges got up and calmly said, "You need MY help? What do you want ME for?"

Phantom turned his head to the bodies lying on the tables and said, "I need you to rebulid these Mavericks. This time, however, you must remake them using these blueprints." Phantom raised his arm and suddenly, in a flash of purple light, a rolled up blueprint appeared in his hand. After Phantom gave it to him, Serges reviewed it and later said in a cowardly tone, "It seems easy enough. I shall begin right away!"

Serges then nervously added, "B-But when would you like to have them....well.....finished?"

Dark Phantom stared down at the Maverick and calmly said, "Whenever you are ready. Unlike Sigma, I am very patient with my henchmen, and I NEVER destroy one for doing a bad job like he did with those two giant Mavericks. Everyone deserves a second chance. Now, get started, and expect a well-deserved reward when you finish successfully." He then turned around and walked casually out of the room.

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Serges said, "I think I'm going to like working with him. Hee, Sigma's a Rogaine-challenged retard anyway, always barking orders. Well, time to get cracking!", and had started working on the Mavericks with a bright, upbeat attitude.

Opening a large window, Dark Phantom stared out at the city of Enlitia and said to himself, "Soon Zero. Soon, you will return to the fold and join my side. Then we will destroy our enemies and take over the world AND the humans that rule it. Just like the master had wanted for our future!" He then maniacally laughed with his arms outstretched as he watched over the very large city and yelled out "And the future is inevitable! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!"

It was time to prepare. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Proceed To Chapter 6!

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	8. Chapter 6: Sacred Emotions

****

Chapter 6: Sacred Emotions

"Ni!"

"Ni ni ni ni ni!"

"Who are you!?"

"We are the Knights Who Saaaaaaaay 'Ni'!"

Buzzsaw was laughing out loud and rolling around on his recliner as he watched an old, old, REALLY old movie on the vidscreen in his large, REALLY messy room. Auroran Flash, sporting a neck brace, walked in just as the sound of a launched cow permeated the room.

(twong) "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"Hey Buzz!", said Aurie, "What are you watching?"

Buzzsaw turned to Aurie and said, laughingly, "Oh this? This is called "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"! It is, like, the funniest movie I have ever seen! I mean, you could bust several guts laughing just from watching this 200-year old movie! Do you wanna watch it with me?"

Aurie smiled and said, "Sure!" She then sat down on the floor next to Buzzsaw's chair as they watched a scene showing, once again, the infamous "Knights Who Say Ni".

"We want................a SHRUBBERY!" (suspenseful music)

"GASP! A shrubbery?!", said Buzz sarcastically. He turned towards Aurie and said, "We don't know where to find good shrubberies these days! The Knights will do terrible things to us if we don't do one of two things to please them. Do you wanna know what they are, Aurie?"

Aurie gave a fake scaredy look and said, "Gee, Buzz. Whatever shall we do?!"

Buzzsaw continued ranting, saying, "If we don't have a shrubbery, then we must stick ten-inch logs up our butts and dance the Macarena while hopping on one foot!! If that dosen't please them, then we must cut off the hair of the world's greatest warrior, then sacrifice it to the BLUE-BUTTED BABOONS OF PHLEGM!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Aurie then broke out into hysterical fits of laughter and rolled around the floor, saying, "BLUE-BUTTED BABOONS OF.....HA HA HA HA!!! IT'S......TOO......F-F-FUNNY.........HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" Buzzsaw also broke into fits of laughter, but Aurie stopped laughing when she felt a dull, aching pain in her neck.

Buzzsaw stopped laughing, turned off the vidscreen and said, "Whoa, sorry Aurie. I forgot about the pain in your neck. How do you feel?"

Aurie got up, touching her neck brace and said, "I'll be okay, Buzz. The pain's not bad. In fact, the doctor said I can take off the neck brace in an hour."

Buzzsaw then smiled warmly and said, "Ah! You truly are a Mega Goddess!" He then bowed before her and extended his hand. Aurie giggled and extended her hand just as Zero walked into the room.

"What's going on here?", said Zero. Buzzsaw immediately snapped back and said, "Oh, nothing! We were just talking about cutting off ALL your hair and sacrificing it to the Blue-Butted Baboons of Phlegm." Aurie snorted and laughed at that remark.

Zero rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Just don't cut MY hair or you WILL die!"

Buzzsaw then smirked and said, "So Zero. Do you wanna see me break two times my record at the training arena and settle our little bet?"

Zero turned around and said, "Not right now, Buzz. I've got a lot on my mind!" He then started to leave.

Buzz got Zero by the shoulder and added, "Aw, come on, Zero. It'll be fu..."

Zero then pushed Buzz off him and screamed, "I SAID NOT NOW!! RIGHT NOW I WANT TO BE ALONE!!" He then stormed out of his room and out of the barracks.

Buzzsaw and Aurie stood in the room in a dead silence, with surprised looks on their faces. Buzz then said, "What's with Zero? I was only kidding."

Aurie replied, in a concerned tone, "I don't know, Buzz. He's been acting really strange since he got back from Mocpac City. I think maybe he feels responsible for X getting hurt." She then added, "Speaking of which, I'm going to go visit X in the hospital. You wanna come?"

Buzzsaw grabbed some change on the dresser and said, "I'll be by in a little while. I'm going to stop and get something to eat first." With that, the two Reploids left the *messy!!* room and headed out of the barracks.

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Moving towards the vending machine in the cafeteria, Buzzsaw was about to make his selection when he heard voices coming from around the corner.

"We have to tell him now, Proto."

"Now is probably not a good time, Roll."

It was Scorch and Royaltie. Or were they??? Buzzsaw hid behind a refrigeration unit and listened in on their little conversation.

"X is still recuperating in the hospital. We can't tell him everything now. Not with his condition."

Scorch insisted.

"But, Proto!", Royaltie said, "Vile nearly killed X last night, and now Dark Phantom has finally returned. It won't be long before he gets Zero to come back to the side of evil and join forces to destroy us all! If we don't tell Mega Man now, later will be TOO late! Please Proto! We have to have our brother back!"

Scorch stood there for a minute in dead silence, and thought about what Royaltie had said. With a serious look on his face, he replied, "Okay, Roll. We'll go and tell him now." Royaltie smiled and hugged Scorch. The red Reploid then added, "Get to Dr. Light's Lab and have everything ready. I'll go get X."

Royaltie nodded and the two Reploids then left the cafeteria, not noticing Buzzsaw standing in the shadows.

The green Reploid thought to himself. _Dark Phantom? Proto? Roll? Dr. Light? BROTHER?!! What's going on here? And what's this about Zero once being evil? I should follow them!_ With that, Buzzsaw left the cafeteria and stealthily trailed behind Scorch and Royaltie.

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"Hi Meggy!", said Aurie as she walked into X's hospital room.

"Hi Aurie.", said X in a slightly weak tone. X laid there on the bed with only two tubes sticking into his stomach. The two tubes led to a Sub-Tank lying on the nearby table, and was in the process of recharging X. His dents and wounds were fixed up and he looked like a better Reploid than before.

"How do you feel.", said Aurie in a concerned tone.

X replied, "I'm feeling better. The doctors did a good job fixing me up and I'll be out as soon as I recharge. How's your neck, Aurie?"

Aurie took off the neck brace and smiled as she said, "Couldn't be better now that the hour's up!" She then frowned and said, "I'm sorry we couldn't be there to help you before, but Vile really knocked us out. Next time we'll teach Vile and his cronies a lesson he won't soon forget, right X?!"

X frowned and said, "No!"

Aurie wore a surprised look on her face and replied, "Wha? We can beat them, X! We're the toughest Maverick Hunters on the planet! We are unstoppable! We...."

X's face cringed in anger. He sat up and screamed, "NO NO NO! NO MORE WARS! NO MORE FIGHTING! I nearly got killed by Vile last night and I might have put ALL of you in jeopardy! My friends! NOTHING can be gained from these endless wars! I HAVE HAD IT! I DON'T CARE WHO WINS OR WHO DIES! I JUST DON'T WANT TO FIGHT ANYMORE!!!"

Aurie stood there in shock and disbelief. She couldn't believe X was saying this! She nervously said, "B-But Meggy, we-"

X interrupted her and screamed back, "STOP CALLING ME MEGGY!!! GET OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

Aurie's eyes began to well up with tears and her lower lip quivered. She then buried her face in her hands and ran out of the room, crying loudly. X felt a great wave of regret washing over him as he laid back down on the bed. At that moment, Scorch walked in and shook his head in disappointment.

"Give up, X? Why?" Scorch inquired.

"What's the point in fighting if no one knows WHAT we're fighting for?!" X angrily said as he disconnected the Sub-Tank from his stomach. He got up and turned towards Scorch.

"SOMEONE knew that answer long ago," said Scorch, "and I believe you still lived up to that cause until now."

"Who IS this "someone" you're talking about?", X asked. He was suddenly again given a feeling of dejavu as he looked at Scorch and the room was silent for a minute. X then calmly added, "I know this is a stupid question Scorch, but, do I know you?"

"It isn't a stupid question, X." Scorch then motioned for X to follow him. He added, "Come with me. I have to show you something that might change your mind."

X held a questioning look on his face as he asked, "Where are we going Scorch?"

Scorch answered back, "Home."

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Zero walked very far away from headquarters and was walking leisurely on the streets of Enlitia. The streets were bustling with people and cars, especially on the street Zero was on, where about 10 people were gathered around the local TV store. They watched a news report about the attack in Mocpac City that happened the previous night. The world leaders had decided to hold the Peace Conference to a secret and undisclosed location in order to prevent any future violence by the Mavericks.

But Zero wasn't listening to the news report. He was thinking about the meeting he had with Dark Phantom. _Who is he?_ He thought. _What does he know about my past? And what is this "secret weapon" he kept babbling about?_ His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a crashing noise in the alley he passed.

Zero walked into the alley, with Beam Sabre drawn, and yelled out, "Who's there!". He heard it again and whirled around to find a stray dog coming out of a garbage can. The dog ran out of the alley and into the sidewalk. Zero breathed a sigh of relief.

"I took you for a Reploid of stronger courage.", said a low, monotone voice. Zero heard it and turned around to find a familiar shadow forming into a dark, distinguished figure. 

Dark Phantom.

Zero raised his Beam Sabre and yelled, "Phantom! Let's finish this right now!"

Phantom merely dimmed his red eyes as he stately said, "I didn't come here to fight you, Zero. I came here to help you."

Lowering his weapon, Zero said, "What do you mean "help" me?!"

Phantom continued, "I want to help you realize your true destiny, brother."

Zero wore a questioning look on his face, saying, "What destiny? MY destiny is with the Maverick Hunters......and my friends! And why do you keep calling me 'brother'?"

Phantom extended his hand towards Zero and said, "You must come with me if you want your questions to be answered."

Zero pushed Phantom's hand back and yelled, "NO! I want my questions to be answered right here, RIGHT NOW!!"

Seemingly unmoved by Zero's rude retort, Phantom stared hard at Zero and his eyes glowed brighter as he chanted in a rather unholy tone:

"Sleep! I need to sleep! I must close my eyes and sleep! Sleep! Sleep!"

Zero suddenly felt extremely tired and began to feel faint. He suddenly thought, "Phantom's casting a spell on me. I've got to get out of......here......before........."

It was too late. Phantom finished his chant and Zero fell to the pavement in a deep sleep. Phantom remarked to himself, "That was easy." He picked up Zero and said to him, "When you awaken, brother, you will at last return to my side and we will rule together! YOUR future is inevitable!"

With that, Dark Phantom had disappeared in a swirl of smoke and light with Zero still in his arms.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


Proceed To Chapter 7!

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	9. Chapter 7: Family Reunions

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Chapter 7: Family Reunions

"Aurie! Are you in there?! Aurie I need to talk to you! Please open up?!"

Buzzsaw was knocking on Auroran Flash's door and received no answer. He pressed his ear against the door and heard faint noises coming from inside. He silently opened the door and looked inside to see Aurie lying down on her bed with her face buried in her pillow, sobbing.

Buzz tiptoed towards her bed and softly said, "Aurie? Are you okay?"

Aurie lifted her head and looked at Buzz with sparkly eyes and said, "*sniff* Buzz? I'm sorry I didn't hear you knocking." She sat up as Buzzsaw said, "Slash told me you ran out of the hospital in a hurry. Why are you crying?"

"Buzzsaw...", Aurie began to stammer as she continued, "X yelled at me! When I visited him in the hospital, he started screaming about not wanting to fight anymore! He then yelled at me and told me to go away! X HATES ME NOW! He's going to leave the Maverick Hunters! He's going to leave ME before I......tell....... him.....", she stopped talking and had started to cry again.

Buzz walked over to Aurie and hugged her. She cried on Buzz's shoulder as he spoke in a comforting voice, "It's okay, Aurie. It's okay." After a moment, Buzz looked at her and said, "I know for a fact that X doesn't hate you. It would take a LOT to make him hate a wonderful person like yourself."

Aurie began to crack a smile as she said, "Y-You really mean it?"

Buzz continued, "Of course! And I don't think he's going to quit the Maverick Hunters. I think Scorch is doing something about that."

"What do you mean?" Aurie now wore a questioning look on her face.

"I don't know.", replied Buzz, "But I guess there's only one way to find out. C'mon!" He then left Aurie's room with Aurie trailing right behind him, not knowing what to expect.

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X, Scorch, and Royaltie were walking around in what appears to be an old lab. Inside the lab, many old and outdated mainframe computers stood silent and pictures of various ancient scientists adorned the walls. In another room, a table stood in the middle of it and a number of surgical and mechanical instruments hovered over it, which was now home to a family of spiders. Yet in another room, there were no technological instruments to speak of, except for an old color TV at the end of the room. The old living room had a plush, green carpet, a recliner, a shelf full of books, and a slew of dusty, hardly readable photographs.

This entire house was obviously untouched by time and hadn't been inhabited in decades.

X questioned Scorch, saying, "What is this place, Scorch?"

Scorch looked back at X. As X's reflection gleamed off of Scorch's visor, the red Reploid replied, "This lab....." he turned his head and surveyed the lab, "is where Royaltie and I were first built."

X's eyes grew wide in astonishment. He said, "Wow! You two are brother and sister?! I thought maybe that you two were...."

"X! Don't even think it!", Royaltie interrupted, "The very thought of it makes me sick!" Scorch chuckled at that remark.

"Well, better still.", X said as he shrugged, "This lab is amazing! I mean I haven't seen anything like it since I came out of that capsule years ago!"

"You mean...." Royaltie continued with a questioning look on her face, "You don't remember this place?"

X shook his head, "No, I don't. Why should I remember this place?" He was suddenly hit by another feeling of dejavu as Scorch started to say:

"Because, X......" Scorch breathed deeply as he blurted out:

"This is where YOU were built, too. You are my brother!"

X immediately jumped in the air after hearing that and screamed, "WHAAAAAT!!"

After he landed, X said to Scorch, "BROTHER?! You're my brother?! How can this be? I haven't met you until today?! HOW!"

"X!", Scorch yelled, "Calm down! I know this is hard to believe, but it is true. You, Royaltie, and me. We are family. Our father created us all and gave us life."

X then turned to Royaltie and said, "That means.......are you my sister?"

Royaltie beamed and said, "YES!" She cried tears of joy as she ran over and hugged her long-lost brother. "I've been wanting to do this for such a long time! I missed you so much!" After a tender moment, she let go and returned to Scorch's side.

"I don't understand!", a confused X said, "If you two are my family, then why did it take you all these years to find me? What took you so long?"

Royaltie stepped forward and explained it to X:

"A year after you came out of the capsule, Scorch and I came out of our capsules here and we listened to our father's recording. He told us to go find you and tell you everything in case you forgotten. It was hard to find you because you were out on missions all the time and MHHQ was not fully developed yet."

"When we finally found you, X." Scorch interrupted, "We kept close tabs on you until the time seemed right. It seems now is a good time since you've decided to give up the Maverick Hunters."

X frowned at that last sentence. He then thought about Aurie and felt like kicking himself for yelling at her.

"I don't think anything could convince me to go back. I told you I don't want to fight anymore, no matter what happens."

Royaltie immediately grabbed X and yelled, "Please, stop it, X! You're sounding like you're becoming one of the Mavericks!"

X pulled away and said, "NO WAY! I'm not a Maverick! I never will be! I just don't want to fight anymore, do you understand?! Nothing is going to change my mind! Not even you!

Royaltie bit her lower lip in discouragement. Scorch merely shook his head.

"If we can't convince you...." Scorch said as he casually walked over to the biggest mainframe computer in the lab and pulled out a CD-ROM from his pocket. He then continued:

"......then maybe HE will."

"Who is HE?!", X queried.

Scorch had inputted the CD-ROM into the main drive and punched a few buttons. The screen then suddenly flickered on and after a few moments of interference, the image of a bearded old man in a lab coat appeared before the three Reploids.

X stood in awe at the image and had suddenly realized who it is.

It was Dr. Thomas Light. The father of robotics and the father of X, Scorch, and Royaltie. He spoke to X:

"Hello, X. It has been such a long time."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"Indeed, it has been such a long time, Brother!"

Lazily opening his eyes to a monotone voice, a groggy Zero awoke to stare at the grim countenance of Dark Phantom. He suddenly had the urge to spring up and get the heck out of wherever the heck he is, but he couldn't move because his body from the neck down was mysteriously paralyzed, lying backside down on a metal table.

"As you can see, I've paralyzed your body so we wouldn't have any more confrontations like last time." Dark Phantom said.

Zero cleared his throat and said, "Well, you got me, Phantom! I'm here and I'm helpless! Now what will you do with me!" Even in helpless and defeated states, Zero always kept a brash attitude in the presence of his enemies.

Phantom turned his back on Zero, walked towards an old computer mainframe, and calmly said, "You said you wanted your questions answered, didn't you? I've brought you here so I could live up to that promise."

Having calmed down a bit, Zero answered back, "OK. But I can't talk to you like this. Could you please un-paralyze me? I won't run away or fight you, I promise."

Though his instinct told him not to, Phantom answered back, "Very well. But remember not to try anything, Brother." He then opened his steel-taloned hand and a purple energy bubble had formed on his palm. It flew from Dark Phantom towards Zero's chest and, with a bright flash of light, dissipated the paralyzing spell on Zero.

Having regained the feeling in his systems, Zero got up off of the table and casually walked towards Dark Phantom. "The first thing I want to ask is.......why do you keep calling me 'brother'?"

Phantom didn't respond. He punched a few buttons on the mainframe, and after a few moments, the picture of two robots appeared on the monitor. One robot was red with spiked shoulders, spiked shoes, an Arm Cannon, and no head. All the robot had was a dome with a computerized brain inside and glowing red eyes, all resting in between his shoulders. The other robot, on the other hand, was tall, black and yellow, and his head was shaped like that of a cobra.

Zero pointed at the picture and said, "That.....that black and yellow robot. It looks a little like.....ME." He then pointed at the other picture on the monitor and continued, "That other robot looks like you."

Phantom turned his head towards Zero and said, "That's because those two robots are......or should I say......WERE.....US! That was us before our conversion into Reploids."

Zero looked towards Phantom with a surprised look on his face as the dark Reploid looked towards the screen and spoke of their origins:

"I was once Dark Man. A powerful warrior created by the "master" to emulate a powerful robot named Proto Man and frame him for his crimes. I also kidnapped Dr. Light and stole most of his knowledge from his mainframe computer, including the knowledge to turn ordinary, emotionless robots into Reploids. But Mega Man, the hero of the past, had entered my fortress, destroyed my Sentinels, and defeated me with the help of his accursed brother. I was rebuilt a few years later to be with my master during his final days. During this time, he converted his most powerful warrior into a Reploid. The warrior known as Bass.

Zero became more surprised. "Bass?! You mean......THAT WAS ME?!", he said, pointing at the picture of the black and yellow robot.

"Yes!", Dark Phantom answered back, "The master considered you his greatest achievement ever, and had wanted you to continue his work in the future when he died. After the primary conversion, he augmented your strength using a robotic dog you once owned as Bass. His name was Treble. He then implanted in you his "secret weapon", augmented by the power of his 75 Robot Masters and the strange power called "Evil Energy". Along with a newly modeled Arm Cannon, you had the power to lead the future Reploids and bring the human race to its knees."

Zero was shocked! He had this secret weapon all this time and didn't even know it??! He contemplated on what it and the "master" might be as Dark Phantom continued on with his speech.

"After he finished and placed you in his underground bunker, he converted me into a Reploid and timed me to awaken in case you failed with the mission. He had implanted into me a strange crystal of unknown origin. This crystal gives me my magic and my power. He then put me in my capsule and placed it in the underground bunker. That was the last I ever saw of him. My master.....my father.....gone forever."

Zero sensed that, as evil and dark as he was, Phantom still misses his master, the one he considers his father. Zero then remembered the dream he had and he remembered the old man. _Could that be the "master"? My father?? _he thought_._ He turned to Phantom, saying, "I need to know, Phantom. Who is our master and what is the secret......weap.......ugggghhhhhh......"

Zero felt his insides suddenly twist and turn and his world became blurry as Dark Phantom looked at him with bright, evil eyes.

"Phantom! W-What's........happening.......to.......meee??!", Zero said as he kneeled to the floor in pain.

"I didn't want to do this, Zero, but your memory systems weren't fully cooperating and there was no other way of helping you remember. So I injected a special Bisodium isotope in you while you were sleeping. You left me no choice. It is now taking effect. I know it is painful now, but don't worry, Brother. When you awaken again you will be yourself again. Your TRUE self! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Zero's world became black and he fell to the floor unconscious as Phantom continued to laugh maniacally.

"Booooooosssss! I'm finnnnniiisshed!", mused a voice from next door. It was Serges.

"Excellent, Serges!", said Dark Phantom in his enrapture, "Have you followed the plans exactly?!"

"Oh yes, Phantom!", said Serges as he walked in the mainframe room, "Our new Mavericks are now fifty times more powerful than ever before. I don't think those Maverick Hunters will stand a ghost of a chance!"

"Wonderful!", yelled Phantom, "You have served me well, Serges! As payment for your services, you may leave. And I will promise you dominion over any land you choose when I take over this world."

Serges jumped for joy as he said, "Oh, thank you, boss! You really are the greatest boss I've ever had!" With that, Serges merrily skipped out of the mysterious complex, leaving behind Dark Phantom and an unconscious Zero.

After taking one last look at Zero, Phantom walked into the room where Serges was at and looked at the new and improved Mavericks. He laughed maniacally with ecstatic abandon as he looked on and later said, "Ah yes! It is time! The future is INDEED inevitable!"

He laughed again for what appears to be the beginning of a war.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"I always knew you all would come back, someday.", said Dr. Light.

"We still miss you, Doc.", said Scorch, his voice choked with emotions.

"Dr. Light.", said X. "You're the one in all those capsules. The ones that gave me those enhancements."

"Yes, Mega Man X", continued Dr. Light. "I figured you might need them in your fights someday, so I programmed them each with my brain algorithms and with each individual enhancement and hidden them away to where you would easily find them. I also programmed my algorithms into this CD-ROM for the day when you need all the answers."

X found comfort in that thought. He had a LOT to ask Dr. Light.

He first asked, "I need to know. Why was I created? Why was I put in that capsule? Why am I always fighting when I don't want to fight?"

Suddenly, the image of Dr. Light faded and in his place were three images of three very familiar robots:

The images of Mega Man, Proto Man, and Roll.

"The story of your births began almost 100 years ago when I created my first robots. My first robot was Proto Man, who was first created to be a welding robot until an explosion occurred in the lab. When the smoke cleared, Proto was gone, his helmet and protective shield also gone, too. I didn't let this keep me down, though. With the help of my former assistant, Dr. Albert Wily, we created two housekeeping robots named Rock and Roll."

Upon the mention of the name Wily, X suddenly flashed back to a time where he met a man named Wily, but he couldn't remember anything more after that. He turned his attention again to Dr. Light's speech.

"A couple of days after creating them, Dr. Wily snuck into my lab and stole them, along with 6 industrial robots I had also created. He had intended to reprogram them and use their abilities to rule the world. However, Rock and Roll broke free from Wily's grasp and escaped, leaving Wily behind to reprogram the remaining 6 robots. I knew those robots under Wily's command would cause a great deal of destruction, but I didn't know what to do. Rock, however, had stepped forward and said he wanted to do something about it. Unlike any robot I created, Rock had a strong sense of justice and a natural fighting spirit within those circuits. Therefore, I had taken the liberty of converting Rock into a fighting robot. From that day forward, he became the greatest warrior of all time. The warrior known.......as MEGA MAN!"

As Dr. Light finished, a number of images flashed on and off in X's mind. He suddenly remembered fighting a robot named Guts Man in a large canyon. He also remembered racing to avoid fast beams of light in Quick Man's warehouse. Fighting a giant snake in Snake Man's jungle.......fighting robo-mummies in Pharaoh Man's pyramid.......fighting Charge Man inside a moving train......fighting a mechanical frog in Yamato Man's fortress.....avoiding fire traps in Turbo Man's speedway......fighting Tengu Man in his Sky Base.....these many images in X's mind meant only one thing......

X was finally remembering his past.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Sis?", Scorch said with a smile.

"He's remembering, Proto! HE'S REMEMBERING!!", Royaltie happily yelled.

"I......I.....I do.....remember! I.....I AM Mega Man! I AM MEGA MAN!!", X heartily said.

Dr. Light reappeared on the screen and smiled. Scorch and Royaltie cheered, hugging each other and dancing around the room happily. The only one that didn't celebrate, however, was X.

Scorch and Royaltie stopped dancing as X continued to say:

"There's one thing I still don't understand, Dr. Light. Why did you put me in that capsule? Why did you turn me into a Reploid?"

Dr. Light began to speak, "After the StarDroids were defeated and a raid was made on Skull Castle, we couldn't find Dr. Wily anywhere. What we did find were plans for creating Reploids that he stole from me. Even though he was gone, he may cause trouble in the future. Not only that, but you wanted to live amongst the humans and learn to feel like them, too. Your brother and sister's thoughts were also mutual. Therefore, using the plans that were many years in the making, I had you three converted into Reploids. I wanted you and your siblings to live a peaceful life in the future and I made your emotions perfect and similar so that you would have no problem interacting with the humans. I also modified your weapons in case there were troubles in the future. But I also knew this would be very dangerous. Although Proto and Roll's thinking patterns were perfect, I wasn't sure about you, X, because you were the first to be converted. I needed 30 years to test your reliability, but I couldn't live to see that day, nor did I have no one to carry on my work. Therefore, I had sealed you in that capsule, which had tested your internal systems and kept you preserved until the day you were found. I had sealed Proto and Roll in separate capsules and timed them to open a year after you were found, and I asked them to find you and check up on you. I had done all this because........I love you X. I love all of you and I wanted you to live the lives that you wanted. The lives that you fought for. That you're still fighting for."

Dr. Light sounded like a father to his children. X, Scorch, and Royaltie began to cry tears of joy as Dr. Light said those words.

"So now you know your past.....and your destiny, X. You must destroy the last of Dr. Wily's evil, whatever it may have spawned into now! You must protect the world from those that use robots for evil! Even beyond the grave, I still have my complete faith in you. Now go down to the basement of this lab and gain the last enhancement I can give you. It is a complete body enhancement that will enforce your power a hundred fold, and it will give you a Giga Crush attack that will destroy anything within a 5-mile radius, but be careful using it, as it will use ALL of your systems."

X felt that strong sense of justice burning in him once again, just like his original self. He then remembered the time he escaped from the Final Weapon and he was talking to Zero, and had asked him to take care of him if HE ever became Maverick, and also thought about what would happen if he DID quit the Maverick Hunters. Thousands of cities would be destroyed and millions of humans would die, and Sigma would rule supreme. Only then would Mega Man X go down in history not as a hero, but as the Maverick who stood by and did nothing. _I can't give up!_ X thought to himself. He then declared, out loud, "For this world and for my family, I WON'T give up!!"

"Take care, all of you. And X………good luck, my son." With that last remark, Dr. Light faded from the vidscreen and from the three Reploids sights for the last time.

"I had no idea, X." said a voice from behind them. The three Reploids whirled around to find two other Reploids standing in the doorway.

Auroran Flash and Buzzsaw.

"How did you two get here?", said Scorch.

"I was in the cafeteria when you two were talking.", Buzzsaw began to explain, "I followed Royaltie here, picked up Aurie and came back. We heard everything."

Aurie ran to X and they hugged each other lovingly. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Aurie. I'm so very sorry."

Aurie smiled at X and said, "It's okay, X. I'm just glad to have my Meggy back! And I'm even happier for you in the fact that you are the original Mega Man!" They then let go of each other.

Buzzsaw added, "Yea, X! I mean, you were a legend back in the past. And I believe you'll become more of a legend when you beat Sigma once and for all!"

Grabbing Buzz's hand in a brotherly way, X answered back, "WE'LL beat Sigma! Together! At least until I tell Zero everything about me! Where is he today?!"

Scorch frowned at that sentence. He knew now that he had to tell him about X's best friend and the fact that he was one of Wily's Reploids. X had to face the cold, hard truth.

"X", Scorch began to say, "There's something we need to tell you, about Zero." Everyone, including X, strained their ears to hear him say:

"X, I know you and Zero are best friends, and I hate to have to say this, but…..Zero was once and still could be a….."

Suddenly, Scorch's revelation was interrupted by an explosion that rocked the entire lab. Buzzsaw looked outside to see what the commotion was, and he suddenly yelled out:

"THE HQ IS UNDER ATTACK!!!"

"Then we must waste no time!", X began to sound like a leader again, "You four go on ahead to the city! I'll catch up!"

The four Reploids all nodded their heads in agreement, donned their individual battle gear, and teleported out of the lab. Before he ran for the basement, Mega Man X took one last look at the empty vidscreen, the one that held Dr. Light's last recording. He then said:

"Thank you for everything, Dr. Light. I promise I won't let you down."

He then turned to go down into the basement with a renewed sense of justice, where his final enhancement awaited him.

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Proceed To Chapter 8!

Go Back To Chapter 6

Return To The Chapter Page


	10. Chapter 8: Attack of the Psycho-Maverick...

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Chapter 8: Attack of the Psycho-Mavericks

Plumes of fire and smoke were rising from the badly damaged complexes of Maverick Hunter Headquarters as explosions continued to ravage the entire base. Everywhere, frenzied humans and Maverick Hunters scurried back and forth across the base like scared mice, firing their respective weapons everywhere across the ground and in the sky. Two Maverick Hunters, Slash and Ice Blue X, fired their weapons in the sky at an unidentified flying Maverick (UFM! *heehee*), shrouded in the shade of the sunset sky. But the blasts merely bounced off of him, and he laughed as he fired a four-pronged bomb at the two Hunters, exploding with great impact. The Maverick came into the light as he said:

"Thizzzzzz is more fun than live hyena wrezzzzzzzzztling!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!"

It was Blast Hornet. He looked different this time around. While the right side of his body was the same, the left side of his body was completely dark and covered in gridlines. His normal left eye now an evil-looking dark green eye. His once white-gloved left hand now a taloned hand. The rest of the Mavericks (Flame Mammoth, Storm Eagle, Wire Sponge, Wheel Gator, Volt Catfish, Frost Walrus, and Split Mushroom) could all be seen with the same affliction. It is obvious that Dark Phantom has transformed them into the darkest, scariest, most powerful Mavericks ever created.

As Hornet buzzed in closer to put the sting on the Hunters(OK! Bad Joke! Sorry!), Ice Blue X pointed her patented Freeze Beam at the Maverick and said to Slash, "I'll try my weapon again at its highest setting. Maybe that will stop him!"

At that moment, Wheel Gator, also a new and improved Maverick, jumped in and said, "Mind if I join the party, guys?! I'm in the mood to put the big BITE on you losers!" He then chomped his powerful jaw menacingly and charged towards our heroes.

Slash stepped forward, activated his dual-pronged, Darth Maul-style Beam Sabre, and said to Ice, "Go and keep that bee busy, Ice! I'll cover you!"

Slash uttered a battle cry and charged at Gator while Ice focused her Freeze Beam on Hornet. She fired a powerful, thick beam made out of intense cold at the buzzing Maverick, causing him to fall to the ground and incasing him in an icy shell. At the same time, Slash blocked Gator's advance and jumped over his tail as he swung it. This move gave way for Slash to perform his Quadruple-Buster maneuver with his Beam Sabre, slicing continuously at the Maverick's midsection.

Despite their valiant efforts, however, it was all in vain. Slash's Quadruple-Buster didn't even form dirt on Gator's armor, and a surprised Slash was headbutted a few feet back by the toothy Maverick. As for Blast Hornet, the icy shell that encased him was cracking, and he managed to break free. The shards from Hornet's prison had hit Ice in several places at once, and had caused her to reel back and fall down near Slash.

The two incapacitated Maverick Hunters looked up in surprise at the two seemingly-invincible Mavericks, who were left completely unharmed by the Hunters' dual attack.

Ice screamed, "Our weapons didn't have any effect!" Slash yelled back at the 'halfway-decent' Mavericks, "How did you get so dang POWERFUL!!"

Hornet sneered at the two hunters, saying "Probably becauzzzzzzze we have a new mazzzzzzzter!" Wheel Gator jumped in and said, "Yeah! And he's given us the power to finally kick your Hunter hides into the next zip code!! HA HA HA!" The two Mavericks then fired a barrage of Spin Wheels and Parasitic Bombs at Ice Blue X and Slash, sending the two Hunters running for the hills.

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As the carnage continued, Dark Phantom watched from a nearby rooftop and was obviously pleased with the progress HIS new Mavericks were making.

"Hm hm hm hm hm! Serges has done a wonderful job rebuilding them into my own private army of Mavericks!", said Dark Phantom proudly, "Not only that, but my own magical power has made them INVINCIBLE! Not one of my men has been reported destroyed!"

"Yes!", said a voice from the shadows, "The Maverick Hunters won't stand a chance against the Psycho-Mavericks! They will be extinct by the time night falls!"

"Indeed!", continued Phantom, "And once X and his friends appear soon, they will also easily fall under our massive girth! We will at last achieve what Sigma could not, and finally avenge our master!" His eyes then glowed brighter with pure evil.

"Just remember one thing, Phantom!", said the shadowed Maverick, "I've waited longer than you to get the chance to destroy X! Therefore, he should be MINE!!"

"True.", said Phantom as he dimmed his eyes, "You'll get your chance, after my Psycho-Mavericks have softened them up a bit, so have patience!"

The mysterious Maverick growled at that remark, but he had later changed his tune and laughed maniacally as Phantom proclaimed:

"Remember.........THE FUTURE IS INEVITABLE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

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****

After running a good two miles from the base, Ice Blue X and Slash looked back at the war-torn HQ and breathed heavily, still wondering what went wrong back there.

"I think....huff....huff.....we lost them.....huff.....Slash....huff", said Ice Blue X as she panted under her breath.

After resting for a second, Slash gained his bearings and said with an agitated look on his face, "We should've seen this coming! They just came out of nowhere and sprang a surprise attack on us! How could they have gotten past our security? HOW DID THEY GET SO MUCH POWER!!!???"

Ice tried her best to calm down a very irate Slash, "Please calm down, Slash! We can beat them! We just need a little more faith, and a little more help! Let's call X and the 17th unit to help us!"

Slash now wore a look of confusion on his face and added, "Where IS X and the others? Didn't they know about the attack?"

At that moment, an eerie wind blew and the the two Hunters turned around to see Storm Eagle and Volt Catfish, all sporting Psycho-Maverick designs, looming ominously over them. Before Ice and Slash could react, Catfish fired out a Triad Thunder at them and froze them in an electric field.

"Don't bother calling your buddy-buddy Hunter friends, losers!", said Catfish. Eagle then swooped in and finished, "Cause once they get here, they'll be joining you!" The two Mavericks then laughed maniacally as they pointed their respective weapons at the two hapless Hunters.

Suddenly, two large Level 5 plasma blasts converged on Catfish and knocked him back several feet. At the same time, a barrage of energy blades hit Eagle and had caused him to fall back in a daze. Just as Ice Blue X and Slash looked up to see who shot those Mavericks, a narrow plasma beam hit the Triad Thunder probe and stopped the energy field.

Scorch, Royaltie, Auroran Flash, and Buzzsaw jumped in and tended to their friends.

"Ice! Slash! Are you two okay?" Buzzsaw said in a concerned tone.

Dusting her blue armor off, Ice replied, "We're alright, Buzz. Thanks for coming in the nick of time!"

Scorch looked at the HQ and said, "What in the heck happened here?!!"

Slash moved to stand near Scorch and he explained, "We were ambushed in an attack by the Mavericks. They just came out of nowhere and blasted the entire HQ with power that I've never seen before!"

Auroran Flash replied, "What do you guys mean?"

Ice jumped in and said, "They look like the same Mavericks that you guys beat at Mocpac City the other night, but this time they've REALLY changed! They got new powers, and they say they have a new master now!"

"New master?", said Scorch, "Could it be......?"

Suddenly, without warning, a burst of cyclonic wind hit the six Hunters from underneath and knocked them down to the ground, leaving them motionless. When Scorch and Buzzsaw looked up to see what happened, Storm Eagle and Volt Catfish, along with Wire Sponge and Split Mushroom who recently jumped in to join them, stared down hard at the fallen Reploids and declared out loud:

"There's no point in stopping us, fools! Because....", Split Mushroom said, raising his dark, grid-lined fist.

"WE are the omnipotent!", said Storm Eagle, raising his fist.

"WE are the untouched!", said Wire Sponge, raising his fist.

"WE are the new force of darkness!", said Volt Catfish, raising his fist.

"WE ARE...............THE PSYCHO-MAVERICKS!!!", they all declared in unison. As their fists touched, a luminous flash of purple energy emanated from where they met. The Hunters looked on at the sight and one could sense the fear in their eyes.

"Let's go, boys!", said Storm Eagle, "We've got bases to destroy, Hunters to kill, and a world to conquer!" All the Psycho-Mavericks cheered at that remark and had left to destroy the rest of the HQ. Before he left, Split Mushroom turned to face the Maverick Hunters, who were just getting their bearings, and had said to them:

"We're saving the best for last, so we'll kill you ALL later! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" He then ran off to join his buddies.

Disheartened by their failure, the six Hunters looked on at the devastation Dark Phantom and his Psycho-Mavericks were causing.

Slash began to say, "It's going to take a miracle to beat the Psycho-Mavericks! We need X and Zero's help!"

Scorch walked up to Slash and said, "X will be here soon!"

Ice Blue X replied, "I don't think even X will beat these Psycho-Schmucks! I mean, our own weapons couldn't even scratch them, let alone your own! I REALLY hate to say this but, I suggest we run as fast as we can from these guys while we still have the armor on our backs!"

Royaltie immediately jumped in and said, "NO! I suggest we fight them anyway!"

Buzzsaw also jumped in and said, "Royaltie is right! We've got to keep fighting! Every Maverick has his weak point! We simply have to find it!"

Aurie (also!) jumped in and said, "Yeah! I'm sure those Psycho-Freaks have an Achilles Heel somewhere! Besides, we can NEVER give up! I mean, what will everyone think?! What will X, Zero, and all our other friends think?! What will the WORLD think??!"

All of the Hunters stood in a moment of silence to think about what Roll, Aurie, and Buzz had said. As they thought, another explosion shook everything within a mile radius, causing one of the HQ's infrastructures to fall.

Scorch stood atop the highest rock on the foothill and said, "Listen everybody! X is getting a new enhancement for his armor that will increase his power! It could be powerful enough to blast the Psycho-Mavericks AND their new master to kingdom come. The only way for US to help everybody now is to hold them off until X arrives. Our weapons may not be powerful enough, but our will to live, to fight, and to protect the innocent is even stronger! We MUST protect the humans and our friends or die trying!" He then leaped off the rock and outstrecthed his hand towards his friends, finishing:

"So whadda'ya say! Will you help me fight??!"

Royaltie reached out her hand and said, "I'll fight with you, brother!"

Buzzsaw reached out his hand and said, "I'll fight with you till the end, my friend! Till the end!"

Aurie also followed suit, saying, "They had better not have broken my CD collection, or I will REALLY get medieval on their @$$E$! Count me in!!"

Ice Blue X and Slash were the last ones yet to join in. They thought for a second longer and later said:

"You're right! I could never give up! I mean, I've been through worse battles! Let's do it!" Ice Blue X declared, holding out her hand.

"Yeah! It wouldn't hurt to try once more! Let's beat those Mavericks and set things RIGHT!!" Slash loudly declared, holding out his hand.

With all their hands together, they threw them up into the air, in true football huddle fashion, and then yelled out several battle cries as they ran toward the war-torn Maverick Hunter Headquarters. Scorch and Royaltie were talking as they trailed behind their comrades.

"I wonder where Zero is?!", Royaltie asked.

Scorch immediately stopped. Royaltie followed suit. Scorch looked at Royaltie with great concern, saying, "I'm worried about Zero, Roll."

Royaltie replied, "Do you think he will join us??"

Scorch turned to look at the fiery HQ, the bright fire gleaming off of his visor. He then answered back, with a frown on his face:

"I think...........he's already here."

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Proceed To Chapter 9!

Go Back To Chapter 7

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	11. Chapter 9: TADA!! The Calvary is Here!

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Chapter 9: TADA!! The Calvary is Here!

Another powerful explosion had shook the entire Maverick Hunter Headquarters as the wave of terror caused by Dark Phantom and his Psycho-Mavericks continue on. On a nearby hill, a small Reploid could be seen sitting down, capturing the devastation on a camcorder and enjoyously eating a bowl of Tomato Soup. 

It was Serges.

"Ooo!! Another complex is falling to the ground!!", said Serges in a frantically happy tone, "I must say I've really outdone myself! That overzealous, hairless loser Sigma could never have done such a great job like Dark Phantom and I did! Those Psycho-Mavericks are my greatest achievement ever!"

"Are they?", said an ominous voice from the shadows.

Serges's happiness turned immediately to fear as he dropped his camcorder and got up. He spilled his soup as he turned around and said nervously, "W-W-W-Who's T-There?!". He looked at someone who was standing in the shadows of a nearby forest.

The shadow came close into the light as he said, "An overzealous, hairless LOSER, am I!". It was Sigma, suited up in a new, blue Battle Body.

"SIGMA!!", Serges yelled as he jumped back and tripped. He fell to the ground on his back and had tried to crawl away from the irate Maverick.

Sigma's face twisted into anger as he said, "The one thing I hate more than Maverick Hunters, humans, and competitors are TRAITORS! You have betrayed me, Serges! And to make things worse, you turned my own army of Mavericks against me! For this treachery you must be....."

"Sigma, wait!", interrupted Serges as he continued to crawl away from Sigma, who was slowly advancing towards the diminuitive Maverick. "I-I-I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me! Dark Phantom forced me to create those Mavericks! I-I-I didn't even like it! I acted the way I did just now because his eyes are everywhere! Please spare me, boss! I promise I won't go against you again!"

Sigma didn't say anything. He simply stared down hard at the sniveling Serges. He unsheathed his Beam Sabre and said, "It seems you and Dark Phantom made the perfect team, and soon you two will be the perfect team to be boiled down into axle grease!" He then grabbed Serges by the neck and lifted him in the air. The camcorder continued to run as a helpless Serges screamed in absoulte terror.

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"Leave me alone, you tusk-faced schmuck!"

"Not until I kick your butt and stomp you flat!"

A red titanium-colored rookie Maverick Hunter was being chased down an alley by Frost Walrus, also a Psycho-Maverick. Frost Walrus was incredibly fast despite being larger than life. Having cornered the hapless Maverick Hunter at the end of the alley, Frost Walrus casually said:

"Just hold it right there, real still, so I can have a good aim at your head! I promise to end your life quickly, heh heh!" He then lowered his shoulder towards the unknown Hunter and fired his Frost Tower towards his head.

The rookie Hunter closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle. Suddenly, a giant, Level 5 Plasma Blast was fired from the roof above and had shattered the Frost Tower in mid-air. Frost Walrus stood stupefied and the rookie opened his eyes to find that he was still functioning. They both looked up and saw who fired that blast.

It was Auroran Flash. She said to the two Reploids, "How's that for precision firing!" She then charged her blaster again, leapt down from the rooftop in front of the rookie Hunter, and then fired a Level 5 blast at Frost Walrus, causing him to reel back in a daze. Aurie turned to the Hunter and said, "Hey, Crossfire! Are you okay!"

The now-named Crossfire replied, "Yeah! I'm okay! But everyone on the base is not! They're either in hiding or turned to scrap!"

Aurie put her hand on his shoulder and said, "You did great and you did all you can! Now get all the other Rookie Hunters that are left and evacuate as many humans as possible! Me and my friends will handle those Psycho-Hacks!"

Crossfire saluted and said, "You got it, AF!" He then punched a couple of buttons on his wrist and teleported out of the alley. At the same time, Frost Walrus, who was seemingly unharmed and angered by the attack, had gained his bearings and said to Aurie, "Ooohh, that does it! You're going down, girly!" Aurie had fortunately been paying attention and had teleported out of the alley before a barrage of Frost Towers fired by Walrus could hit her, leaving him to pitch a tremor-causing temper tantrum in the area. After a moment, Frost Walrus then stomped out of the alley and into the MHHQ Main Square where an even bigger battle was taking place.

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Scorch fired Level 5 Plasma Blasts and Royaltie fired Level 5 Narrow Beam blasts in the air at Storm Eagle and Blast Hornet. Ice Blue X fired her Freeze Beam and Slash fired his own Plasma Blast at Wheel Gator and Volt Catfish. Auroran Flash fired Level 5 Plasma Blasts and Buzzsaw fired a barrage of Enchanted Blades at Wire Sponge and Flame Mammoth. Split Mushroom and Frost Walrus attacked the Rookies evacuating and guarding the humans while the Rookies themselves returned fire. This incredible battle within the walls of MHHQ seemed like an all-out war between Heaven and Hell.

And it seems the Psycho-Mavericks are winning.

On a nearby rooftop, Dark Phantom watched the entire cataclysmic event. His eyes turned bright blood red with delight as he said, "This indeed will be a day long remembered! We will at last see the end of the Maverick Hunters, and we will soon see to the enslavement of all mankind! When I cast my shadow on this world, all men will kneel before us! Even Sigma will be forced to kneel, before I kill him of course! HAHAHAHAHA!"

The mysterious Maverick put his overshadowed hand on Phantom's shoulder and said, "Agreed, Dark Phantom! But personally, I won't be happy until I destroy Mega Man X once and for all! Where is that coward anyway?? Why could he chicken out on his friends during the battle of the millenium??!"

Dark Phantom moved his shoulder and turned to the Maverick and said, "Mega Man X is too bound by justice and honor to simply become a coward. Haven't you figured out that it is his greatest weakness??" He then turned his attention back to the battlefield and continued, "I can feel that he is preparing for this fight, and he could find a way to stop my Psycho-Maverick army, but don't worry! His weakness will set in when he faces his ultimate challenge, and he will DIE! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

The mysterious Maverick laughed with Dark Phantom as they watched the ongoing battle unfold.

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Flame Mammoth shot out a streak of oil from his trunk at Buzzsaw and Aurie and had fired a ball of flame from his Arm Cannon at the slick, causing a massive wall of fire to form. The two Hunters jumped back from the towering fire barrier and fired a combined barrage of Plasma Blasts and Enchanted Blades through the inferno at Flame Mammoth. When the flames settled after a moment, Buzzsaw and Aurie peeked over to see Flame Mammoth on his backside screaming "I've fallen and I can't get up!" *HAHA! I love gratuitous jokes!*

Buzzsaw held up his weapon in triumph, saying to Aurie, "Now that's what I call true teamwork!". Aurie also followed suit and said to him, "Yeah, Buzzy! We are unstoppable!"

Suddenly, a sharp feeling of pain hit Aurie's left leg, and she looked down to find the sharp end of Wire Sponge's Strike Chain sticking out of her leg. She screamed as she was being pulled away from Buzz like a fish on a hook into the waiting arms of the veggie-style Maverick.

"AUUUUURRRRRRRIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!", screamed Buzzsaw as he ran toward the two. "LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU ZUCCHINI-FACED @##$%@!!!" He immediately unsheathed his Beam Sabre and sliced off the Strike Chain holding Aurie. He then jump-kicked Wire Sponge in the stomach, knocking him down, and had fired countless rounds of Enchanted Blades in his face. After a moment, Wire Sponge laid still and unconscious. Buzzsaw pointed at him and said, "Mess with my friends again and you'll wish you never got to know Buzzsaw the Righteous!" He then ran to Aurie, who was pulling out the Strike Chain blade from her leg.

"Aurie! Are you okay??!", said Buzzsaw in a concerned tone.

"My leg........HURTS! MMMM.....OOOOWWWWWW!!", screamed Aurie, having pulled it out.

Buzz ran to a nearby "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY BREAK GLASS" case and had broken it to find a first aid kit. He takes it, runs to Aurie, and tends to her injury.

Aurie looks up to Buzz and says, "Thanks, Buzz. You truly are righteous! I guess this means we're even!"

Buzzsaw smiles, "It doesn't matter if we're even! You'll always be my one, true Mega Goddess!" Aurie giggled at that remark, and was helped up by Buzzsaw, who patched up her leg wound. 

The two walked out of the alley with Aurie limping out after Buzz, and were suddenly stopped by a flying Scorch, who had been blasted back severely by Blast Hornet's Parasitic Bomb, and has landed near a pile of rubble. The two Hunters and Royaltie came to Scorch's aid and had found he was dented badly, with a small wound in his shoulder seeping out circulatory fluids. Ice Blue X and Slash also came a second later, also dented and bruised. 

"Scorch! Are you okay?!", shouted all of the Hunters in unison.

Looking distressed, Scorch felt his shoulder wound and suddenly yelled out, "They're WINNING, aren't they?!" All of the Hunters frowned at that remark.

Suddenly, as if by a sheer twist of fate, a GIGANTIC blast of energy could be seen in the horizon, and two screaming Mavericks, all of which are Split Mushroom and Frost Walrus, flew from the blast and careened towards a nearby wall, and had taken significant damage. The six Hunters got up and looked towards where the blast originated and saw a familiar face:

Mega Man X. Clad in an all-new Ultimate Armor unlike anything anyone has ever seen before.

The crowd cheered for Mega Man X in more ways than one: "MEGA MAN!!! YO, X!!! MEGGY!!! BROTHER!!! IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!"

At the same time, Dark Phantom sensed his arrival and said to his mysterious friend nearby, "He is here! It is time!" With a swirl of smoke, the two Reploids disappeared from the rooftop.

Auroran Flash and Royaltie both ran to hug X. Buzzsaw said to X, "You sure came to the nick of time, my friend!" Slash butted in and said, "Yeah, X! These Psycho-Mavericks are unstoppable!"

X walked to Scorch, took his hand and said, "I'm here now Scorch! I'm here now for all of you! It's time for ALL of us to show the Mavericks who's boss!" They all shouted "YEAH!" at that remark.

X looked down at Aurie's leg wound and said to her, "Aurie! What happened to your leg?!" Aurie replied, "Oh, I got hurt a little bit, but I'm okay, despite the pain." X smiled and said back, "That's what I love about you, Aurie. You're both tough and sensitive." Aurie smiled as well and thought to herself, "Love.........????"

Suddenly, all of the Hunters turned to find Frost Walrus and Split Mushroom gaining their bearings and looking really p@#!@d off. X motioned all of the Hunters to stand back as he charged his X-Buster to Level 6 (!!!!!!!!!) and unfolded the wings on his back to reveal his Nova Strike. He then said to his comrades, "Let's go!"

He then jumped and hovered in the air, and had leveled his blaster towards the astonished Psycho-Mavericks, letting loose a titanic blast of Plasma energy and sending the two Reploids flying once again.

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All off the Psycho-Mavericks appeared in the square to celebrate their victory. Flame Mammoth came in with the head of a Maverick Hunter, slammed it to the ground, and stomped on it. To them it seems that the war has finally been won.

"I can't believe we actually did it!", Flame Mammoth shouted heartily.

"Yezzzzzzzzzzz! We are truly an unzzzzzztoppable forzzzzzzze to be reckoned with!", Blast Hornet said happily.

Wheel Gator also butted in and said, "Yea! We finally cleaned those Hunters' clocks and gave them what.......". Wheel Gator suddenly stopped and looked up at two objects in the sky, careening towards them. He pointed at them and said, "Uhhhhh, hey guys! What are those?!"

All of the Psycho-Mavericks looked up at the objects and realized they were Split Mushroom and Frost Walrus, all flying towards their position. Before they could react, the two hapless Mavericks landed right in the middle. Flame Mammoth yelled at Frost Walrus, saying:

"Hey, Tuskbreath! What's the idea of raining on our parade!?"

Frost Walrus weakly said, "Shut....up, DUMBO!" After they both got up, Split Mushroom yelled, "We gotta be ready! Here comes....."

At that moment, Mega Man X soared over the square and over the Psycho-Mavericks' heads. His Nova Strike allowed him to fly with the finesse of an eagle. He yelled out to the group of Mavericks, "Hey guys! Remember me?!"

"Aw it's just Mega Man X with some fancy new suit!" Flame Mammoth declared, "We can beat this guy! We did before! After all, it's just one of him and......"

"......and SIX of us!!"

Mammoth stopped and all of the Mavericks turned to see the six Maverick Hunters (Scorch, Royaltie, Auroran Flash, Buzzsaw (the RIGHTEOUS!!!), Ice Blue X, and Slash) standing before them, with their weapons charged and leveled towards their enemies. X had landed near his comrades and charged his weapon as well. Buzzsaw smiled wickedly at the startled group and said heartily, "IT'S PAYBACK TIME!!!"

With that, a combined barrage of Plasma Blasts, Enchanted Blades, and Freeze Beams had hit the Mavericks with incredible force unlike any other. Blast Hornet and Storm Eagle never even had the chance to take flight, let alone retaliate. The Mavericks were definitely no match for the legendary Maverick Hunters' combined might, as they were being pushed back and being damaged severely. It seems the tides of war would finally turn in their favor. When suddenly.........

"ENOUGH!!!"

Everyone stopped. X and the Maverick Hunters stopped firing, and the now-smoking Mavericks regained their senses, as they knew who made that commanding yell. Suddenly, a bright flash of purple light appeared before the two groups and had soon materialized into the familiar shadow of the evil Dark Phantom.

All of the Psycho-Mavericks shouted in unison, "HI BOOOOOSSSSSS!!!"

Phantom raised his hand and said, "Psycho-Mavericks! Fall back and attack until I give the order!" The Mavericks didn't argue with their new master, and had stood to attention like trained soldiers.

X was surprised by the arrival of the Mavericks' new master, and yet feels as if he met him before.

"I always knew it would be him.", said Scorch to himself.

Auroran Flash stepped forward and said, "Sooooooooo, you're their new master! You look kinda familiar! Are you that Maverick Clown we beat up once and made him wear his @$$ on his head?!" All the Hunters laughed at Aurie's joke.

Phantom merely dimmed his eyes and said sarcastically, "Ha ha! Very funny, AURORAN FLASH!"

All the Hunters stopped laughing and wore astonished looks on their faces. He knows Aurie's name???!!

Phantom continued, "I suppose you would best recognize me as my old self!" He then opened his hand and a beat-up, taped-up old helmet appeared in his hand. He placed the helmet on his head and the Hunters astonishment turned to extreme surprise. It was......

"VILE?!!", they all shouted. After that, a moment of silence came, and X stepped forward and said, "I wondered who you were, since I feel like I've seen you before! So who are you really, Vile??!"

Phantom took off the helmet and threw it aside in extreme disgust, shouting, "Vile does not exist anymore! That incompetent persona had long been destroyed! I am the very shadow of evil and destruction!! I am the bane of all that is good and heroic!! I AM DARK PHANTOM!!!"

X and the Hunters reeled back in surprise from Dark Phantom's anger-toned declaration. He then walked towards X and said, "It is time, Mega Man X! Time for you to feel the helplessness of a thousand humans, and taste the true meaning of destruction!"

X looked determined as he faced Phantom and replied, "I am not afraid of you, Vile or not! Give me your best shot, Shadow Boy!"

"Oh, you won't fight me, X!", said Phantom as he stepped back, "You will face someone who is...more or less...your equal in combat! You will face.....my BROTHER!!"

"What??!!", said X.

As Dark Phantom turned away from X, another flash of purple light appeared. This time it materialized into an even more familiar Reploid. He had shouted as he had materialized:

"I have waited a long time to fight and destroy you!!"

X and the other Hunters suddenly screamed in absolute extreme surprise:

"ZERO???!!!"

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	12. Chapter 10: Best of Friends, Worst of En...

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Chapter 10: Best of Friends, Worst of Enemies

"ZERO! What are you doing here with HIM?!"

Mega Man X and the Maverick Hunters all stood in awestruck disbelief as they watched their friend and comrade-in-arms, Zero, stand alongside their new enemy, the treacherous Dark Phantom, as his brother. Zero moved forward towards a startled and confused X and replied:

"Dark Phantom is my long lost brother, X. He has helped me find my past, and he has helped me realize my destiny. To destroy you and your friends for all that you have done to us!"

Still confused, X said back, "Zero?! I....I don't understand."

"X.", Scorch interrupted. X turned to face his brother as Scorch stepped towards him and said, "I'm afraid it is all true. We tried to tell you that Zero was Dr. Wily's creation. In today's case, he was once and is now once again a Maverick."

X immediately shook his head and yelled, "No! NO! I WON'T BELIEVE THIS!!"

Scorch grabbed X by the shoulders and yelled, in his face, "X! It IS true! Zero came out of a capsule just like you, and had led several Mavericks in a revolt against the humans! He even killed an entire unit by himself! I don't know what happened that led you two to become friends, but you two were meant to be enemies! He was even your enemy BEFORE he became Zero! Dont you remember? He was once........"

X pushed Scorch back before he could finish and he clutched his head in pain, saying, "I SAID SHUT THE @#$%#@ UP! I DON'T CARE WHO HE WAS! I DON'T CARE ABOUT HIS PAST!ZERO IS MY BEST FRIEND, AND HE ALWAYS WILL BE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!" Scorch said nothing more. He simply stood silent in despair as X now turned to Dark Phantom.

"YOU!", X shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Phantom, "You did something to him!"

"I....don't know what you're talking about.", Phantom calmly implied, "All I did was remind him of his past and he simply went along."

"NO!", X yelled as he moved towards Phantom, "You have him under some kind of spell! Let him go now or I'll....", X's advance was suddenly stopped by a swift chop to his chest. He fell down on his back and looked up to see that Zero delivered the blow. He said to X, "You'll what, X! In case you haven't guessed, I'm no longer your friend! All I want from now on is your carcass on a stick, after I give you a good thrashing, of course!"

"Agreed!", Dark Phantom said as he raised his hands, "It is time that we take this battle to a more familiar setting, since it is too crowded here!" His hands then glowed a radiant purple light and the three, including X and Zero, had started to disappear.

"X!", yelled Royaltie.

"MEGGY!", screamed Auroran Flash.

"Don't worry, bro! We'll find you!", said Scorch.

"Don't bet on it, Proto Pansy! You, your friends, and your accursed brother will all DIE! HAHAHAHAHA!! Psycho-Mavericks, CRUSH THEM ALL!!" With that, Dark Phantom, Mega Man X and Zero had vanished completely. The Psycho-Mavericks stood from attention and had started to advance towards the Maverick Hunters.

"Royaltie and I will go and find X!", Scorch said, "You guys keep those Mavericks busy! Let's go, Sis!" Scorch and Royaltie had teleported out soon after that.

"Here we go again!", said Buzzsaw. Ice jumped in and said, "We've got to keep them busy, for all our sakes!"

The suicidal struggle begins once again.

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In a flash of blue light, Mega Man X finds himself in a large arena. Various amounts of rubble rested on the floor, and there is a large hole in the now destroyed dome-like ceiling. This was familiar to Mega Man X, however, and he soon realized where he was:

"Hey!", said X, "What am I doing back in the HQ's training facility!"

"It is so darkly ironic.", said Dark Phantom, from out of nowhere. He later appeared, flying in the air over the arena. He continued, saying:

"In the past, you two were great enemies, always fighting against each other on the side of their respective masters. When you both awoke from your sleep in the capsules, circumstances led you two to become friends, and have fought together constantly to protect the world from evil. Now I have returned to once again let the fires of war burn between the both of you, and finally determine who is the superior model!"

X held up his X-Buster towards Phantom and yelled, "Cut the theatrics, Phantom! Where's Zero!"

Phantom pointed two of his taloned fingers at the other end of the arena across from X, and, in a flash of red light, Zero had appeared. He looked up towards his dark brother as Phantom continued to say:

"Brother! For 100 years you've waited to achieve your destiny, and now it lies before you! Do whatever you must to destroy Mega Man X, and make me and our master proud!"

"This won't take long, brother! I promise you!", said Zero.

"I must now go, as some uninvited guests are heading our way!" With that remark, Dark Phantom began to teleport away.

"Get back here, Phantom!", X yelled. He fired a Level 5 Plasma Blast at Phantom, and it missed as he disappeared. At that moment, Zero charged toward X, uttering a shrill battle cry, and tackled him onto the floor.

As Zero reached for his neck, X yelled, "Please stop this, Zero! We're friends! I don't want to fight with you!" Zero also yelled, "Good! This will make your defeat all the more easier!" As they struggled, X placed his feet on Zero's stomach and pushed him off into a pile of rubble. X spoke to Zero as he got up, saying:

"Listen to me, Zero! I don't know what Dark Phantom did to you, or why you're doing this, but you must stop this fighting and let me help you!"

"The only one that's gonna need help is YOU!", shouted Zero as he picked up a piece of rubble and threw it at X, hitting him in the head. He staggered to the floor and clutched his head in pain as Zero walked towards him, laughing maniacally, and had said, "You've always been weak, X! Sentimentality and devotion had always been your weaknesses! It's clear that Dr. Light had melded you in his image, and being around that loser brother and that ^#%@$ sister of yours pretty much proves it!"

Suddenly, the pain in X's head stopped, and he clenched his teeth in sheer frustration. He picked up a nearby metal rod, got up and said, "Messing with me is one thing, but NO ONE TALKS ABOUT MY FAMILY THAT WAY!!" With that, he charged at Zero and swung the rod towards Zero's head, but the advance was blocked by Zero's Beam Sabre.

Looking into X's eyes, he said, "Whoa, X! I guess you're not as weak as I thought!" X didn't say anything, he just kept on swinging with great force. A makeshift swordfight has begun between the two former best friends, with slicing and blocking happening after each passing moment. X had found a rage within his circuits that he never felt before, and it continues to grow as he fights Zero.

The swordfight continues as events unfold outside.

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"Over here, Roll!", shouted Scorch. Royaltie ran to her brother and stood next to him outside of the training arena. As they surveyed the ruined infrastructure, Royaltie said, "The training arena? Proto, what are we doing here?"

Scorch kept his eyes (visor?) fixated on the building as he said to his sister, "X is in there, somewhere. I can feel his energy signature emitting from this very complex, and I can also feel Zero's. We have to get in there and help them both!" Royaltie nodded in agreement, and had ran in with Scorch, only for them to be stopped and thrown back by a force field blocking the entrance to the complex.

"Proto! Ah, ah, ah, ah!"

Scorch recognized that voice. It was Dark Phantom. He appeared out of nowhere, floating over the two Reploids as they got up off the ground. He descended from his flight as he said, "Don't you know that it is rude to simply walk into a fight unannounced?"

Scorch replied, "And don't you know that it is wrong to imitate an innocent robot and slam his good name? Remember?! You still owe me for that, BIG TIME!"

"Well then, Proto Man!", sneered Phantom, "Let us see if those hundred years of waiting would truly be worth it!" He then raised his taloned hand, charged up a purple ball of energy, and had fired it towards the two Reploids.

"Scatter, Roll!", Scorch yelled. The two siblings then jumped out of the way of Phantom's blast as it reached them and it hit a nearby wall with great force. Scorch then charged towards Phantom and tried to punch him, only to punch through dead air as Phantom had dephased himself. Having missed his punch, Scorch lost his footing and fell to the ground.

"Insolent fool!", yelled Phantom as he phased back to normal. He then held out his hand and raised Scorch in the air telekinetically. Royaltie saw this and fired a Level 5 Narrow Plasma Blast into Phantom's back and yelled, "Let my brother go, you shadow-faced schmuck!"

"Gladly!", yelled Phantom. He swung his hand towards Royaltie and had telekinetically threw Scorch at Royaltie, knocking them both down to the ground. Phantom then took his telekinetic power and had lifted a large nearby boulder. He hovered it over their heads as he said, "*sigh* I tire of this! Now it is finally time to bid you adieu, Proto Jerk! Say hello to your brother for me when you ALL die! HAHAHAHA!!" He then dropped the boulder on the hapless Hunters.

Suddenly, Scorch had sprung up and grabbed the boulder in its mid-fall. He held the boulder over his head with great strength as he said to Dark Phantom:

"MY NAME......IS SCORCH!!" He then gave it the ole' heave-ho and threw the boulder at Phantom. Phantom had stopped the boulder in front of him in mid-air with his telekinesis, but Scorch then quickly drew his blaster and fired a Level 5 Plasma Blast at the boulder, causing rocks, pebbles, and dust to rain on Dark Phantom, blinding him. With that, Scorch charged towards the dark Reploid and gave him two hard punches to the stomach and a swift spin kick in the head, knocking him down.

The visor-wearing Scorch then leveled his charged blaster down at Phantom and said, "That was for me, my brother, my sister, and my friends! Have you got anything to say before I blast you to kingdom come?!"

Phantom looked up at Scorch with glowing red eyes and said, "Yes........DIE!!!" His computerized brain then flashed different lights on and off, and Scorch was suddenly thrown back violently into a wall by Phantom's arcane powers, and was pinned there. Before Royaltie could react, she too was thrown back and pinned to the wall.

With that, Dark Phantom arose, and had charged purple energy into his hands and waved them in a karate-style maneuver. After a second of maneuvering, he brought his hands together, in true Ryu/Ken/Akuma style fashion, and had launched a giant fireball towards the two trapped siblings. This caused a great explosion, and had caused Scorch and Royaltie to fall to the ground, with purple bolts of energy crackling throughout their bodies.

"Scorch, I.....I can't move!", said Royaltie as she laid incapacitated near her equally helpless brother. Scorch replied, "Neither can I, Roll. I'm so sorry. I never expected this to happen!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Now who is the helpless one!", said Phantom as he laughed and walked casually towards the two paralyzed siblings.

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With the metal rod still in his hand, Mega Man X swung two more times at Zero. One swing knocked his Beam Sabre away from his hands, the other swing struck Zero in the head, causing him to lose his footing and fall. Zero didn't take this lightly, however, and his eyes burned with rage. He sprang up, punched X in the face, picked up his Beam Sabre, spin-sliced the metal rod in two, and had done a successful spin-kick to X's stomach, causing X to fall back and double over in pain.

As Zero stared coldly at him, X suddenly thought to himself, _What in the heck am I doing?? Zero is my friend! Fighting him and being angry about what he said won't make anything right! What would Dr. Light do at a time like this?? I've got to think clearly! I've got to get through to Zero! But how?_

Zero said to X, "Well, weakling?? What are you waiting for?? Fight me or die!"

When it finally came to X, he regained himself and replied, "No Zero. I won't fight you anymore. I'm sick and tired of fighting my best friend, and I'm sick and tired overall of this endless war. So go ahead and finish me, if this is what you really want."

Zero's face had worn a look of arrogance as he said, "You really are pathetic, X! I thought you were a much better warrior than before. I guess I was wrong." He then stood ready and said again, "Farewell, X! Prepare to join your maker!" With that, Zero spinned towards X with Beam Sabre ready, and just as the Sabre was about to reach X's head:

"At least Iris will be proud of what you are doing!"

Suddenly, Zero stopped, just as the Sabre was about to hit X's neck, and had backed away from X. His face now wore a look of confusion as he looked at X with questioning eyes. After a moment of silence, he said, "Iris? W...Wha......What do you mean??"

X replied to Zero, "Don't you remember, Zero? Don't you remember how much she loved you? When Repliforce started its coup, she never wanted any of this to happen. She never wanted you OR the Colonel to fight. She just wanted you two to step back so the General could create a world where only Reploids exist. She tried to convince you NOT to fight, but you kept going anyway. When you killed Colonel, that was it for her. She tried to force you to stop fighting, and it costed her life. She died because you kept going and didn't stop. If you kill me, well.......that's a real good sign that you're stopping. You've stopped protecting the humans and Reploids that you and I have spent a great deal of our lives protecting. Iris should be really proud of you. You're actually going to help create a world where only Reploids exist, and where all humanity is gone forever. She would have wanted it that way."

Suddenly, Zero's head began to hurt greatly. He clutched his head, kneeled, and screamed in pain. As he hurt, the world around him suddenly began to become bathed in a bright white light *say that five times fast!*, and a voice kept calling for Zero. A girl's voice.

"Zero! Zero!"

Zero knew that voice. It was Iris. She suddenly appeared, lying down lifeless on her backside, a few feet in front of Zero. At that moment, a piece of history is replayed once again in a dream state:

"Iris! Iris!"

"Zero...."

"Hang in there, Iris!"

"Please. Stay away from Repliforce. Let's live together.......in a world where only Reploids exist."

"Iris, there's no world just for Reploids! It's only a fantasy!"

"Yes. I know. But I wanted to believe it. I wanted to live....in a world where only Reploids exist.....with you."

"Iris."

"Uh.....Zero......."

"Iris! Iris! Iris! Iris. IRIS!!!! AHHHHHHHHH! NO! THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! THERE'S NO REASON FOR ME TO GO ON! W....WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR???!!!"

Zero had suddenly snapped back into reality and had screamed in absolute agony. X had immediately reared back from Zero's outburst, and had saw tears streaming down Zero's face. Looking at X with sparkling eyes, he stammered as he said:

"I.......remember! I REMEMBER!!" He then buried his face in his hands and cried.

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At the MHHQ Town Square, Slash was being pushed down hard by a column of wind created by Storm Eagle. Ice was being tossed into the air by Frost Walrus and slammed to the ground with great force. And Aurie and Buzz, both bleeding and bruised, were being backed into a corner by the rest of the Psycho-Mavericks, who's laughing all the way as they pointed their weapons at the two hapless Hunters.

"I don't think......we're going to....make it, Buzz!", Aurie weakly said.

Buzzsaw replied, with a look of concern on his face, "I know, Aurie. But if we have to go down, we'll go down together, as best friends and Maverick Hunters!" Aurie smiled at that remark.

Flame Mammoth said to them, "We'll make you cry for mercy when we pull off your limbs!"

Buzzsaw wore a look of determination on his face as he said, "Bite me, you hot-aired gasbag!"

Aurie also said, "Yeah! Come and get us! Tear off my limb and I'll just shove it up your fat @$$!" With that, they both fired fully powered rapid-fire blasts at the group of Mavericks.

At the same time, outside of the training complex, Dark Phantom lifted up a still-helpless Scorch by the neck with his own arm and said to him, "I should just charge you with energy and explode you right now! But I think it is more rewarding to just rip you apart with my bare hands!"

Scorch weakly said, "You....schmuck." Royaltie screamed, "Scorch!!", as she laid paralyzed on the ground.

Phantom raised Scorch higher and had raised his other taloned hand towards Scorch's stomach as he said, "Here's to one hundred years of humiliation!!"

Suddenly, a bright blue flash of light had appeared in the skies over MHHQ. The Maverick Hunters, the Psycho-Mavericks, and Dark Phantom all stopped at once to see the bright light moving towards the HQ.

As he dropped Scorch to the ground, Dark Phantom had yelled out, "What kind of sorcery is this?!"

Everyone continued to watch as the light came closer....and closer.........and closer.

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Proceed To Chapter 11!

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	13. Chapter 11: Dynamic Duo

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Chapter 11: Dynamic Duo

"AWK??! What is that in the sky??!", Storm Eagle said.

Split Mushroom yelled, "It's a bird, it's a plane, it's......". Wheel Gator interrupted, "Who asked you, Moldybreath! SHADDUP!".

Mushroom yelled out again, in sheer anger, "For the last time, DON'T CALL ME........."

"Hold it, you guyzzzzzzzzz!", Blast Hornet interrupted, "Let me check it out!" The bee Maverick then took air and looked to see the light that is coming closer to the HQ. The light showed itself to be a giant ball covered in a bright blue aura. Blast Hornet looked at this in fright and screamed out:

"IT'ZZZZZZZZZZ A METEOR!!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

With that outburst, all of the Psycho-Mavericks suddenly ran around the square in complete frantic fear, screaming and yelling phrases like, "I'M TOO YOUNG AND HANDSOME TO DIE!!!". Frost Walrus was even seen yelling, "I NEVER GOT TO SEE PARIS!!!". The only ones that weren't shown in fear were the Maverick Hunters, who were tending to their wounds.

Slash said, "What in the name of Mario is going on here?!"

Buzzsaw replied, "They said something about.......a meteor?"

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Meanwhile, outside at the training arena, Dark Phantom looked up in the sky at the "meteor" while Scorch and Royaltie still lay on the ground, paralyzed. He studied it and declared, "This is too energy-based to be a meteor. Whatever this ball of energy is, it is alive." The ball of energy then suddenly changed course in mid-air and moved towards Dark Phantom. The dark robot stood back as the blue ball suddenly stopped upon reaching the ground and then landed safely. The ball then took shape and morphed its form into that of a robot. A VERY familiar robot.

Duo.

"I knew that it was still here!", Duo said.

Looking at him with bright red eyes, Dark Phantom said, "You are obviously not an ordinary robot! Who are you and where do you come from?!"

"My name is Duo.", the robot replied. "I travel the farthest reaches of the universe for only one task: to find and eliminate all of the Evil Energy from this universe. I can sense that you have the crystal that creates and harbors it! Therefore, for the sake of the galaxy, you must be destroyed!"

Phantom merely laughed at Duo's introduction and replied, "You're all talk, aren't you, Space Boy? No one can ever destroy the mighty Dark Phantom! Your destruction is your future, and THE FUTURE IS INEVITABLE!" He then charged purple energy into his hands and fired two energy blasts at Duo. Duo then transformed into blue energy and jumped out of harm's way before they hit. Dark Phantom sees Duo hovering in mid-air and soon follows suit. He again charges energy in his hands and performed his Street Fighter-esque Fireball maneuver. As he threw the powerful projectile, Duo had fired a stream of blue light from his hands towards Dark Phantom, nullifying the deadly fireball and striking the dark robot in the chest. This caused him to fall back to Earth and moan in pain.

As he got up and clutched his chest, Phantom vehemently yelled, "Unnnnnnngh! How.....can this be?! How could he overpower......ME??!!" He then turned his back and disappeared in a swirl of smoke and light.

"He only used a fraction of its power. That means he only has part of the crystal.", said Duo as he floated in mid-air. He flew back down to the ground and declared, "I've got to stop him!" He then noticed Scorch and Royaltie still paralyzed on the ground by Phantom's magic. Sensing the magic still coarsing through their bodies, Duo said, "But first, I'd better help them. I can't leave them like this." He then walked to the two hapless Maverick Hunters and tended to them.

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"Are you okay, Zero?", asked Mega Man X in a concerned voice.

Wiping the tears from his face within the walls of the ruined training arena, Zero softly answered back, "How......wha-......w-why.....did you tell me this.......why.....did Iris have to die!"

"Because she had a choice, Zero." Mega Man said as he walked towards his (former?) best friend. "Just like all Reploids have a choice when they are first created. We are all created with a free will and the choice of how to live our lives. Dr. Wily may have never realized the full extent of what he was doing when he converted you. He probably wanted Reploids with power, but instead he got Reploids with power AND a choice! Don't you see?! You don't have to do this! You don't have to live up to your "father's" expectations! You may have been evil in the past, but deep down inside I know you were destined for so much more! I can forgive you for the past, and we can be friends again! Together we can win this war for all time!" He then moved his hand towards Zero, only to have it pushed back.

"STOP IT!! You're confusing me!", yelled Zero. He turned away from X for about a moment, and then turned back to face him, saying, "Dark Phantom is my brother! He's the only family that I have left! But then again, you were my best friend, and somehow, I think I agree with you."

At that moment, with a swirl of smoke, Dark Phantom had appeared in the arena, and had moved towards the two Hunters as he said to Zero:

"Brother! It is time to go! A strange robot had attacked me and.........what is going on here?!" Dark Phantom looked at his "brother" and yelled out, "Why is HE still alive?! Why didn't you finish him?!"

"Phantom.......I.....", stammered Zero. He couldn't say much since he didn't know what to feel at that point. Phantom had turned to look at X, who stood there motionless looking at the dark robot, and then turned to look at Zero and he said with dimmed red eyes, "You disappoint me!" With that, Phantom then threw his arms out and he, along with Zero, had disappeared.

"ZERO!! DON'T LEAVE ME!", yelled out X as he reached for his friend. However it was too late. They were already gone.

"He's in here!", yelled out a voice from outside. It was Scorch. Seconds later, the door to the arena was blasted open, and Scorch and Royaltie ran in to tend to their brother.

"Are you OK, Mega?! Where's Zero?!", said Royaltie in a concerned tone.

"He's gone. And so is Dark Phantom.", said X. "How did you find me?"

Scorch replied, "We sensed that you were in here. We could've been here sooner, but Dark Phantom had ambushed us. Fortunately, we were saved by an old friend."

X held a questioning look on his face as he said, "An old friend? Who?" Scorch smiled, and had pointed towards a tall shadow standing in the doorway. The shadow moved closer towards X and it was revealed to be Duo.

"Mega Man. It has been such a long time since we last met.", said Duo.

X's face changed over from a questioning look to a surprised look as he said, "I.....I remember you! DUO!" He ran to and stood in front of the towering robot.

The two robots looked at each other as Duo said back, "I wish we could reminisce about old times, but right now I need you and your friends' help in saving the universe."

Scorch suddenly yelled out, "Oh no! OUR FRIENDS!! We forgot all about them back at the square!!"

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"You know, guys, they're really funny when they are fearing for their lives." said Ice Blue X.

"Yeah! It looks like they couldn't find their butts anywhere! Ha ha ha!", giggled Auroran Flash.

"I'd start laughing like a hyena if all my muscles weren't sore.", said Buzzsaw.

"That is SO true, Buzz! Ooooooohhhhh.", said Slash, rubbing his sore shoulder.

The Maverick Hunters all leaned on a nearby wall at the MHHQ square and were watching the Psycho-Mavericks kneeling down in the assumed position as if they were preparing for Armageddon itself. Some of them were just being quiet while Flame Mammoth kept saying, out loud:

"Ourfatherwhoartinheavenhallowedbethynamethykingdomcome......"

"WILL YOU STOP THAT, DUMBO!", yelled out a quite-annoyed Frost Walrus, "I've been hearing that, in my ear, OUT LOUD, for ten minutes already! It's really bugging me! And it's obvious that nothing is happening! Get up, you guys!" With that, all of the Mavericks got up and turned to look at the sky to find the so-called "meteor".

"Hey! It looks like we aren't doomed after all!", exclaimed Wire Sponge.

"Yeah! And that's bad news for them!", said Volt Catfish, pointing his finger towards the Maverick Hunters. They soon turned towards our hapless heroes and advanced towards them with weapons charged.

"Oh great! I guess this is it! It was nice fighting with you guys!", said Buzzsaw, standing ready to fight, and feeling the end is now here for him and his friends.

At that moment, a blast of flaming blue energy came in between the fighters. The Mavericks stopped and gaped in awe at the blue flame, which transformed into Duo almost immediately. The Maverick Hunters themselves stood speechless as Duo stood clear in front of the Psycho-Mavericks and said to them:

"Leave them alone! Any enemies of Mega Man's friends are enemies of mine!" He then raised his gigantic, metallic hand and yelled out with an otherworldly tone, transforming his hand into pure energy. Immediately sensing danger, Split Mushroom yelled out "RUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!"

It was too late, though. Duo made a mighty, Herculean chop right into the group, slicing Wire Sponge and Volt Catfish in their middles and exploding them thereafter. With that surprise, all of the Mavericks made a mad dash to escape the square. Storm Eagle and Blast Hornet tried to fly out, only to be stopped by a flying Mega Man X, and pushed back by his Level 6 X-Buster Blast right into Duo's Energy Charge attack. With final "AWKs" and "ZZZZs", they were both instantly destroyed. As for Wheel Gator and Split Mushroom, they were stopped by Scorch and Royaltie, and were kept busy long enough for Duo to come back down to Earth and blast them with a streak of light from his hand. The blast had actually, like magic, removed the Psycho-design from their bodies along with their invincibility. This allowed X, Duo, Scorch, and Royaltie to strike back with their strongest attacks and destroy them both completely, all this while the other Hunters still looked on in awestruck abandon.

Just like that, in the blink of an eye, most of the Psycho-Mavericks (sans two well-known fat Mavericks) have all been destroyed.

"Is that the last of them?", queried X.

"All except Flame Mammoth and Frost Walrus.", said Scorch. "When the battle started, they ran out of here faster than a cat with flaming kerosene up its @$$!" Everyone laughed at that remark, calling them "yellow fat-bellied freaks" all the while.

Buzzsaw ran to the group, "WOW! You guys were RIGHTEOUS! You beat the Psycho-Mavericks!" The other Hunters also ran to their comrades and were congratulating them in more ways than one.

Aurie ran to hug X and said, "I'm so glad you're OK, Meggy!" After a tender moment, she let go of him and looked at Duo, who just stood there like a statue. She said to X, "So who's your friend?"

X ran to Duo's side and said, "Everyone! This is Duo! He's from outer space and a good friend from my past! Duo, these are my good friends Aurie, Buzzsaw, Slash, and Icey!"

All of the Hunters answered back, "HI!!".

"It is so nice to meet you all!", said Duo as he smiled. "And I know there must be questions that need to be answered, and I can give them. Is there some place where we can heal ourselves and talk??"

At that moment, a voice crackled out of a nearby loudspeaker and was barely clerical. The voice yelled out, "This....snnkkkt......octor Cain......snnnnkt.......any Hunters alive.........sshhhhhkkkkktttt........repor.......shhhhhh.......Command Center...........shhhhhhhhhhh.

"Dr. Cain!", yelled X, "We'd better get over to the Command Center, pronto!" All of the Hunters and Duo ran towards the Command Center, which was surprisingly still standing, despite the other buildings in the HQ that were destroyed.

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"It was a good thing I had tested out my new barrier on the Command Center and it worked.", said Dr. Cain as he stood in the control room with Duo and the Maverick Hunters, "The Psycho-Mavericks weren't able to touch it, but I wish I could've made more for the other buildings. The entire HQ was crippled because I wasn't fast enough. I am very sorry, everyone."

X moved towards Dr. Cain and put a consoling arm on him as he said, "It's okay, Doc. It's not your fault that Dark Phantom had nearly destroyed this place. I just wish I knew how he did all this and how he got control of Zero!"

Scorch immediately stepped forward and showed Dr. Cain a broken syringe as he said, "Dr. Cain. I found this on the ground outside of the Training Arena after Duo rescued us. I think, maybe, Dark Phantom dropped it. Could you examine it?"

After Dr. Cain took the syringe from Scorch's hand, he examined it and said to Duo, "Duo, tell the Maverick Hunters everything that they need to know while I study this syringe." Duo simply nodded his head in agreement, and had pulled out a small CD from within his body. He motioned the Hunters to gather around the central computer while he placed the disk in the main drive. After a few seconds, the image of a medium-sized, cylindrical-spire shaped blue crystal appeared before the group. Everyone listened as Duo explained the origin of this mysterious object:

"It is called the Orion Crystal. This crystal was once a power source for an ancient civilization. Where there was once darkness, it brought light. Where there was once chaos, it brought order. Where there was once death, it brought life. It held the power of an entire galaxy in its glow, and it remained untouched over the centuries, until it became the target of an evil, sentinent race of androids. They had attacked our planet with power unforseen, and we were left defenseless, since we never had the need for an army. Therefore, the Orion Crystal had created me, an independent being made of pure, good energy, to combat the evil robots and save the world. Although I fought valiantly, I was still a novice, and the androids stole the Orion Crystal and used it to lay waste to the world I was supposed to protect. They then moved on to the next planet in my galaxy and had done the same. Because of the rage and hatred that they spread, the Orion Crystal was soon corrupted, and had become an instrument that dispensed only Evil Energy, and they had taken millions of lives within my own galaxy. I had failed them. My people."

"Oh, Duo!", said Royaltie as she put a consoling hand on Duo's arm, "It's so sad. Your home galaxy is gone?! I'm so sorry." Duo looked down at Royaltie and said to her, "Thank you, Roll." He smiled at her and then once again turned his attention to the hologram of the Crystal, which had turned from blue to purple, signifying its conversion from good to evil, and had continued the story.

"Anyway, after the destruction of my homeworld, I had honed my skills and became a better fighter, so that I could defeat the evil army, retrieve the Orion Crystal, and rid it of all of the Evil Energy. One by one, I hunted down each of the androids until only their leader was left. He held the Orion Crystal within his circuits, and I managed to corner him in the Solar System. I had eventually defeated him, but the defeat came at a high price, as I was nearly destroyed. We both fell to Earth, and while Dr. Wily stole the Orion Crystal from the dead leader's corpse, Mega Man had rescued me and Dr. Light had tended to me. It was the first time I had ever met Mega Man, and it was the first time I had faced his enemy, Dr. Wily, who had used the Evil Energy to power his robotic warriors. Mega Man had eventually defeated him, but some of the Evil Energy had escaped after the battle and had nearly killed him, but I had come and cleansed him of all the Evil Energy. Since I could no longer detect anymore Evil Energy on the planet, I had thought that the Orion Crystal was destroyed and I had left the planet, satisfied that all was well."

"I remember that!", exclaimed X, "I still owe you greatly for all that you did for me!"

"What exactly made you come back today, Duo?", questioned Buzzsaw.

Duo looked down at the Hunters and said, "I was traveling a nearby galaxy seeking a place that I would call home, when suddenly I had detected the Crystal's energy signature coming from Earth. Though it was weak, it was clear that the Crystal had not been destroyed after all! I can feel that it was once again being used for evil! I had raced back to Earth as fast as I could, and when I got there, I had met the Reploid called Dark Phantom. He has part of the Orion Crystal, and is using it to fuel his armies! We must stop him! If he finds the other part of the Crystal, he will have enough power to destroy this entire planet!"

"Are you sure.....??", said Slash. At that moment, Crossfire, the Rookie Hunter, had burst into the control room with a busted-up camcorder and had yelled out, "Hey guys! I was searching the area around the base for survivors when I found a Reploid all chopped up, and this!"

"What is it, Crossfire?", questioned Aurie.

"It's definitely something you want to see.", replied Crossfire. He had plugged in the camcorder in the central computer and the image of the Orion Crystal had been replaced with a scene between Sigma and Serges. Sigma had sliced up Serges completely and had left him for dead. Upon looking at the body, he proclaimed, "This is a message to all who stand against Sigma! DEATH TO ALL TRAITORS!! They will all feel my vengenance once Dark Phantom's power is MINE!!" He then left the forest, with the camcorder still running.

"This is too horrible!", said Ice, covering her eyes in disgust.

"Looks like Sigma's after the Orion Crystal, too!", added Buzzsaw, "This war is just gettin' better and better!"

Suddenly, Dr. Cain walked into the room and yelled out, "X! SCORCH! Come here, quickly!" The two siblings walked towards the frail doctor and had listened as he revealed, "I have examined the syringe you found, Scorch, and I found out that it contained a Bisodium isotope laced with hyperactive hormones. It is custom made only for Reploids and is used to awaken and excite a select part of a Reploid's brain. Particularly the part that hadn't been used for a long period of time. Meaning......"

"Meaning that's why Zero's turned on us!", exclaimed Scorch, "Dark Phantom must've injected it in him! I guess he didn't deliberately turn on us after all! I really misjudged him.......badly." Scorch then lowered his head down in shame.

X consoled Scorch and said, "It's okay, Scorch. We as Reploids tend to misjudge everybody sometimes, but in the end we see them for who they really are. Which makes me think..........what if Phantom........." He then trailed off in his thoughts, with Scorch saying, "What, X? What is it?"

X wore a look of pure determination as he thought about what he had to do, what he had to face, and the overwhemling odds that he had to overcome. After a moment, he turned to all of his friends and had said to them:

"Ice! Slash! Stay with Crossfire and Dr. Cain and help rebuild the HQ. The rest of us will go find Dark Phantom, get the Orion Crystal, and destroy Sigma once and for all! And I swear we will turn Zero good again and we will bring him home alive!" They all cheered "YES!!" at that remark.

Without question, Slash and Ice Blue X ran with Crossfire to the elevator. Before the door closed, they all said to their comrades:

"We'll clean everything up for your victory party!", said Crossfire.

"Good luck, guys!", said Slash.

"We're all counting on you!", said Ice Blue X. After saying their goodbyes, the elevator door closes.

Aurie points out, "So, where DO we find Dark Phantom?"

After a moment of silence, Scorch stepped forward and had said, "I think I know where to find him.......and Zero."

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After climbing a series of hills, Sigma stands on a summit and finally peers at a dark castle in the distance overlooking a vast, barren valley. The castle itself looked massive, yet old and unused since decades, and the outside is adorned with various turrets, satellite dishes, and skulls. This became very familiar to Sigma:

Skull Castle. The place which had once been Dr. Wily's base of operations.

"At last. I have finally reached the climax!", said Sigma to himself, "Dark Phantom thinks he is invincible, but he will soon realize that he can destroy a robot, but he cannot destroy a GOD! All of my enemies will tremble before me! With this new body, his power will soon be MINE!! HE HE HE HE HE HE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

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	14. Chapter 12: The Mavericks Who Say Ni

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Chapter 12: The Mavericks Who Say Ni

"Aaaaarrrrghh! I am deeply disappointed in you, Zero!", yelled Dark Phantom as he and Zero stood in the middle of the old lab inside Skull Castle. The dark robot had slapped Zero in the face with the back of his hand, causing him to reel back. The crimson Reploid turned to look at his brother and said, in a defensive yet calm way:

"Phantom, please. X never meant us any harm. No one EVER meant us any....."

"WHAT?!", interrupted Phantom, "What are you talking about?! Mega Man X is our sworn enemy! He destroyed our robotic brothers! He destroyed ME!! He drove our master, our FATHER, to his grave! I hate him for all that he done to us! I HATE MEGA MAN! It is our destiny to destroy our enemies and respect our father's wishes! DO YOU UNDERSTAND??!!"

"I understand, Phantom! I understand how you feel!", replied Zero. "I just don't believe! I don't believe we were destined to be evil! Wily may have given us great power when he made us into Reploids, but he never realized that he gave us the ability to choose our path in life. I never wanted this kind of life when I first met X, even when I did remember my past. Back then, even when I was Bass, deep down inside, I wanted a friend. Not someone like Guts Man or Treble, but a real friend!"

As Zero kept talking, Phantom thought, _Blast! The Bisodium is wearing off! I have to give him another dose before he turns on me!_

Zero finally finished, "Don't you see, brother! Wily had unwittingly freed us from the boundaries that a robot had from being human! We don't have to follow his principles just 'cause he said so or to honor him! We don't need to be evil to get revenge!"

Phantom swung his hand and yelled back, "ENOUGH! I will hear no more of this!"

At that moment, the sound of clanging metal came from the hall and Frost Walrus and Flame Mammoth soon came into the old lab.

"Boss! Sorry we're late!", said Flame Mammoth.

Phantom turned his attention towards the two portly Reploids and said, "Where are the others?!"

Frost Walrus stepped forward and nervously said, "Um......they were.......ahhhhhh......d-d-d-d-destroyed!"

Phantom's eyes lit up and he yelled, "WHAT?!! MY PSYCHO-MAVERICKS DESTROYED??!! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??!!"

Flame Mammoth also stepped forward and said, "W-W-Well, there was this big, blue, weird comet guy that had attacked us and......"

"Excuses!", interrupted a very irate Dark Phantom, "I do not wish to hear LAME EXCUSES!!!" He then raised his taloned hand towards the two Mavericks and continued saying, "You two had FAILED when you left your comrades to die! For this I can only give you this punishment!" Suddenly, two beams of purple energy had shot out from the palm of Phantom's hand and had struck Mammoth and Walrus in their chests. Reeling back in discomfort, the two Mavericks felt their invincibility slip away, and the Psycho-Maverick design that adorned the left side of their bodies had completely disappeared. Mammoth and Walrus had become their normal Maverick selves once again.

"Hey!", said a surprised Frost Walrus. "What happened?!"

"You are no longer Psycho-Mavericks! You are now the same worthless Mavericks that once worked for Sigma!", said Phantom.

"Awwwwwwwww!", moaned Flame Mammoth. "I loved bein' a Psycho!"

Phantom turned his back and continued, "You still have your pitiful lives! Now GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!! Guard the doorway from intruders! At least you can do THAT right!"

Like two children scolded by Daddy, Mammoth and Walrus had solemnly nodded their heads and started down the hallway. They started exchanging insults just before they left, saying:

"This is all YOUR fault, Dumbo!"

"It wasn't MY idea to run, Tuskbreath!"

"DUMBO!!"

"TUSKBREATH!!"

After they left, Dark Phantom turned his attention back to Zero, who had pleaded with him, saying, "Phantom, please. You have the power to stop all this!"

Having calmed down a bit, Phantom shook his head and moved towards Zero as he said, "Ohhh, Zero. The previous battle had obviously made you stressed out and delirious. But don't worry, after a good rest, you'll be back to your old self!" He then stared hard at Zero and began his Sleep Chant.

"What are you doing?", said Zero as he started to feel faint, "No, Phantom! Not again! You don't have to do this!"

"Sleep!", chanted Phantom in an unholy way, "I need to sleep! I must close my eyes and...."

Suddenly, his chant was interrupted by a crash in the ceiling. Both Zero and Phantom looked up at the hole to see a bald-headed Reploid flying in from above and landing a few feet away from them.

"I'm sorry!", said Sigma, "Did I interrupt some bonding time?! Heh heh heh!"

They both yelled in unison, "SIGMA???!!!"

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Auroran Flash, Buzzsaw, and Duo were sitting behind a large rock as Mega Man X laid on top of the rock, looking out of a pair of binoculars towards Skull Castle. Flame Mammoth and Frost Walrus were coming out of the complex as X remarked, "Well, it WAS unguarded! Look, guys, it's the fat bunch!"

The three robots peeked out from behind the rock to see the two Mavericks guarding the front. Aurie queried, "How's come I don't see their Psycho-Maverick.......stuff on them?"

Buzzsaw jumped in and replied, "Who cares? Let's blast them to kingdom come and get Zero back!" He then started to walk towards the complex, but was stopped by X who jumped down from the rock in front of him.

"Wait a second, Buzz! We can't just blast them in broad daylight! Dark Phantom will know we are coming the second he hears the gunfire!"

Duo jumped in and replied, "X is right. As long as Dark Phantom has the Orion Crystal, he will have the power to destroy us. We need a plan."

Everyone stood silent for a minute after Duo's speech. Finally, Buzzsaw's eyes lit up and he said to the galactic robot, "Hey Duo! Do you have the ability to create illusions?"

Duo replied, "It is one of my functions, yes. But I haven't used it in a long while."

Buzzsaw smiled at Duo. He pulled out a small-sized remote control from his pocket and had said to his comrades, "Everyone! I have an idea!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame Mammoth tossed a rock out into the open desert as he continued to complain about losing his invincibility. He said to Frost Walrus, "It's just not fair! That big comet guy killed our buddies and WE get the blame! I loved bein' a psycho! I loved bein' a lean, mean, killing mach....."

"SHUT YOUR FREAKIN' MOUTH, DUMBO!", yelled Walrus. "Ever since we got back, it's been nothing more than complain, complain, COMPLAIN! You really are a pathetic, fat-@$$ed loser, you know that!"

Looking veeeerrrrry steamed *no pun intended since he IS a fire Reploid, hehheh*, Mammoth replied, "Oh yeah! OH YEAH!! Well, you know what I think of you?! You're nuthin' but a self-centered, ice-chunky son-of-a.........."

Suddenly, Mammoth's rather rude retort was interrupted by a sudden sandstorm. Sand kicked up right where they were at, blinding the both of them. Walrus yelled out, "Hey! Where did the sandstorm come from?! I can't see!"

After a few minutes, the sandstorm had died down and the two portly Reploids opened their eyes and saw three, really tall, black-armored robots standing before them. They spoke to Mammoth and Walrus, saying:

"Ni!"

"Ni ni ni ni ni ni ni ni ni ni!!!"

Looking very puzzled, Mammoth replied, "What the......who the heck are you?!"

The middle robot stepped forward, saying in a high-pitched voice, "We are the Mavericks Who Saaaaaaay.......Ni!"

Also puzzled, Walrus replied, "Wha......The Mavericks Who Say Ni?!"

"The same!", said the leader, "We are the keepers of the sacred words! Ni, Peng, and Neeee-wom!"

"Neeee-wom!", repeated one of the other Mavericks.

As the spectacle continued, Buzzsaw watched from behind a rock below Skull Castle and is pointing the small remote control in his hand towards Flame Mammoth and Frost Walrus. He continued to watch with a smirk on his face as the strange black Mavericks continued speaking.

"The Mavericks Who Say Ni...........demand a sacrifice!", said the leader.

Mammoth stepped forward and said, "Look, Blackie! We ain't got time for your fancy words and sacrifices, so get outta here before we........."

The black Mavericks interrupted Mammoth with the word "Ni". As he said it, a sharp jolt had coarsed through the two bulky Reploids, causing them to reel back in pain. The pain continued as the strange robots kept yelling out:

"NI! NI NI NI NI! NI NI NI!"

"OW! OW! STOPPIT!!"

"NI NI NI NI! NIIIII!!"

Finally, the leader quieted his group with the raise of his hand. As they stopped, so did the pain inflicted in Flame Mammoth and Frost Walrus. The leader stepped forward and said, "We shall say Ni again to you, if you do not appease us!"

"How'd they do that?", said Walrus quietly to Mammoth. He then said to the "Ni" Mavericks, "OK! OK! Whadd'ya want?!"

The leader replied, "We want....................a SHRUBBERY!" *you can almost hear the suspenseful music! Hehheh! ^_^*

Looking all confused, they both replied, "A WHAT?"

Irritated, the Knights.....errrr.....Mavericks continued to yell out Ni at the two portly Mavericks, causing sheer pain. Finally, Mammoth yelled out, "Stop it! STOP IT!! ALRIGHT!! ALRIGHT!!! We'll get you your shrubbery! Just stop....saying.....that.....WORD!!"

Now pleased, the leader said back, "Very good! But THEN......when you have found the shrubbery......you must cut down the mightiest tree in the nearby forest.........WIIIIIIIIIIITH...........A HERRING!! *hyuck hyuck!!! ^_^*

Mammoth and Walrus didn't say anything, they just wore stupefied looks on their faces. The leader continued to say, "You must return here with these items! Or else you will never pass through this word...(snifffffffffff)....ALIVE!"

"Alright! Let's go, Dumbo!", said Walrus as they began to leave. As they walked towards the horizon, they continued to converse:

"Soooo, how in the heck are we gonna cut down a tree with a herring, Tuskbreath?!"

"I don't know! I guess we find a big one!"

"Oh yeah! That should be easy, since you ARE a fish-eating fat@$$!"

"Screw you, Dumbo!"

After Mammoth and Walrus were gone, the Mavericks Who Say Ni had disappeared like ghosts, and Mega Man X, Auroran Flash, Buzzsaw, and Duo ran to the entrance to Skull Castle with smiles on their faces.

"I knew it would work!", said Buzzsaw proudly, "Thanks for the illusions, Duo!"

"You're welcome, Buzzsaw.", said Duo. "It was a little hard at first to scan the images from your mind and turn them into holograms, but I'm glad the results worked."

Aurie stepped in and said, "How did they cause pain in the Mavericks if they were just holograms?"

"I actually did that on my own.", said Buzz as he showed Aurie and the others the small remote control. "I got this little doohickey from Dr. Cain. It scrambles electronic fields within registered Mavericks, causing them pain. Each time the holograms said "Ni", I pressed the button and it gave the fatboys a dose of electricity, Buzzsaw-style!"

Everyone laughed at Buzz's fanciful speech. X came forward and said, "Very good, Buzz! I which we had time to congratulate you, but......", he then turned his attention to the Castle and finished, "We have to get in there and save Zero!" Everyone nodded at that remark, and had started to run in to the castle. As he ran, X said to himself:

"Hang on, Zero! We're coming!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"How did you find us!", said a surprised Zero.

Sigma smirked evilly and replied, "I guess I have YOU to thank for that, Zero!"

"What are you talking about!?", said Zero. Both he and Phantom strained their ears to hear what Sigma had to say:

"Allow me to remind you of the day I fought you in that bunker. The time when you were Maverick and I was a Maverick Hunter. After our fight and after I was fixed up, I had personally studied you and I had found out about your past. About Dr. Wily and his fight against Mega Man, and the hopes he had for you. I knew this information would come in handy someday, so I had it downloaded from your circuits into mine. Little did I realized that I was given a gift greater than this knowledge!"

"The secret weapon.", said Phantom as his eyes dimmed.

"Yes! The secret weapon!", replied Sigma, "The computer virus that Wily created to bring the Reploid race under Zero's command! The very same virus that manifested itself into my program and transformed ME into a living computer virus, no! A TRUE GOD OF MACHINES!!"

Unmoved by Sigma's message, Phantom stepped forward and said, "Well, Sigma! It is time that the god finally became the helpless mortal! I think I've let you live long enough, it is time to finish you!" He then charged purple energy into his arms, executed his Street Fighter-style maneuver, and had launched a great purple fireball at Sigma. The impact caused a great explosion that threw Zero back into the wall.

Meanwhile, on the top floor, X and his friends hear the explosion and X says, "What was that?!"

Aurie adds, "I think it came from downstairs!"

Duo also adds, "I can sense the Orion Crystal's presence below this floor!" He then took his enlarged hand and pointed to a nearby stairwell and said again, "This way! HURRY!" They all nodded and ran with Duo down the stairs. As they ran, X thought to himself:

"Please be alright, Zero! Don't be dead, old friend!"

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	15. Chapter 13: A Light Through the Darkness

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Chapter 13: A Light Through the Darkness

Lying face down in a pile of rubble, an unconscious Zero had come to and got up off of the ground, and looked to see Dark Phantom standing in a triumphant-like pose in the now smoky, ruined lab in Skull Castle. Obviously unharmed by the recent blast, Zero moved towards his wayward brother and said, "Phantom! Did you........"

"Sigma is defeated. At long last!", replied Phantom. "Indeed, it is a gruesome fate for a gruesome Maverick." Suddenly, a shadow rose from the smoke and had laughed devilishly at the two Reploids. It was Sigma.

"A-HAHAHAHA! I rather enjoyed it!", said Sigma.

Both Zero and Phantom wore surprised looks on their faces. Sigma had survived?! Phantom had reeled back in extreme awe and had said, "N-NO! My Phantom Fireball! How could you withstand it?!"

As Sigma became visible from the smoke clearing, he laughed again and replied, "I knew that someday you would shuck the Vile persona and reclaim your magical power, so I kept this Battle Body in storage for just such an occasion! Your magic no longer has any effect on me!" He then took out a large scimtar sword from the sheath on his belt and had energized it with yellow energy. Holding it menacingly in his hand, he replied, "Well?! Who's first?!"

"I've just about had enough of you and your surprises!", yelled Zero as he unsheathed his Beam Sabre and walked towards Sigma, "This time you're not going to get away!"

"ZERO!"

Zero had suddenly stopped when he heard his brother's commanding yell. As Zero turned to look at Dark Phantom, the dark robot had said to him, "Give me your Beam Sabre, Zero. Let me handle Sigma."

Zero held a questioning look on his face as he replied, "But......Phantom?"

Phantom had interrupted him, saying, "I lost you once because of Sigma. I will not let him take you away from me again. Now please give me your Beam Sabre!"

Zero didn't say anything, he just solemnly nodded his head. Zero knew this was an argument that he can't win, since his older brother was more powerful than he is. He held the Beam Sabre in his hands and Phantom had taken it from him, saying "Thank you, brother." in return.

"How touching!", sneered Sigma, "A sibling looking out for his younger brother! I'd start crying if I actually HAD that emotion! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

"Silence your tongue you heartless demon!!", yelled Phantom.

"ZERO!"

Everyone stopped to turn and see Mega Man X, Auroran Flash, Duo and Buzzsaw standing at the end of the hallway. Scorch and Royaltie also ran in to join their comrades.

"Sorry we're late, you guys!", said Scorch. "Hang on, Zero! We're comin'!"

"X! Scorch!", yelled Zero. At that moment, Phantom raised his hand and had lifted Zero in the air with his telekinetic powers. He then threw Zero down the hallway and into our heroes, and had created a wall of pure energy, blocking them all into the hallway and out of the lab. 

Recovering from that surprise, X, Zero, and the others ran to the barrier as Phantom said, "Stay out of this, ALL OF YOU! Protect my brother! This is a matter of personal honor now!"

He turned to face Sigma, only to see the bald-headed Maverick lunging towards Phantom with scimtar drawn. Fortunately, the dark robot had blocked Sigma's advance with Zero's Beam Sabre and had forced him off to the ground with his own telekinetic power. He then uttered a shrill battle cry and had charged towards Sigma with incredible speed, slicing with incredible force. Sigma had jumped up from the ground and had blocked the advance, retaliating with his own slash.

The incredible swordfight continued as Zero and the Maverick Hunters all watched helplessly from the hallway.

"Phantom!", yelled Zero. He turned to his comrades and said, "We have to help him!"

"Stand back! Let me take a shot at it!", yelled Buzzsaw. Buzzsaw stepped forward and fired at the forcefield with his Enchanted Blade, but to no avail. Disappointed, Buzz replied, "We can't blast down the forcefield! Even if we did, why should we help him? Ain't he supposed to be the ENEMY?!"

Before Zero could speak, X stepped forward and said, "He may have done those terrible things, but he's still Zero's brother. We have to help him...." He moved his head to look at his friend, "......for Zero's sake!" Everyone (including Buzz) had nodded their heads in agreement, as Zero said, "Thank you X! Thank you all! You truly are my best friends, and......and I'm so very sorry..........for all that I've done." Zero began to become emotional.

X felt compelled to hug his friend, but he also sensed that now wasn't the time, as the fight between Dark Phantom and Sigma continued in the lab. Zero choked back his tears and turned his attention to the barrier and said, "How are we going to break this thing?" After a second, Duo moved towards the forcefield, examined it and said, "This wall is made of Evil Energy. I will try and break it with my power. Please step back everyone!" As X and the others moved back, Duo raised his oversized mechanical hand, uttered out his otherworldly cry, and had charged it with blue energy. He then pushed the hand into the forcefield, causing it to coarse purple energy through Duo. He groaned in pain and had began to feel numb as the barrier began to dissapate.

"DUO!", yelled X.

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Dark Phantom had ducked another slash by Sigma, and had executed a sweeping kick, knocking the insane, bald-headed Maverick to the floor. Holding the Beam Sabre in the air, Phantom tried to drive it into Sigma's heart, only to have it kicked from his hands. Sigma quickly jumped up and slashed again with his Scimtar sword at Phantom's middle. Phantom had blocked the attack with his arm, leaving a gash in his forearm. The dark robot reeled back and had clutched his injury in pain, feeling circulatory fluids seeping out. Despite his injury, Phantom had reacted quickly and had teleported before Sigma could take him down with another slice. Reappearing over to where the Beam Sabre landed, Dark Phantom picked it up and had charged towards Sigma with a great burst of speed. Their swords, along with their cold stares, locked with each other as Sigma said to Phantom:

"You know, it doesn't have to end this way! Join me, Phantom! Become my heir once more! Together with your powers and my leadership, we can easily rule this world! Perhaps even this entire UNIVERSE!"

"Never!", yelled Phantom as he jumped back a few feet. He continued, saying, "Unlike you, I believe humans should be our servants, and not our victims! Besides, I never liked you! You imprisoned me with the Vile persona, forced me to kill everything around me, and you stole my master's secret weapon! I am your enemy forever!"

Sigma merely smirked and chuckled at Phantom's speech and had replied, "You truly are a sentimental fool!" With that, a bright light flashed on Sigma's forehead and had fired a narrow, long beam of concussive energy at Phantom. Phantom had fortunately reacted early and had dephased himself, allowing the beam of energy to pass through him harmlessly.

Annoyed by that maneuver, Sigma had sheathed his Scimtar and outstretched both of his arms. Suddenly, a huge wave of sonic energy had emitted from the speaker-like modules in his shoulders towards Dark Phantom. Screaming as if he were being tortured, Phantom had phased back to normal and had clutched the sides of his head in pain. The painful ringing in his ears had made him unprepared for what would happen next.

Sigma laughed maniacally at the spectacle before him and had charged towards the now helpless Dark Phantom. He punched him in the stomach several times, smacked him in the head with his forearm, and had spin-kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him down to the floor. Weak and gasping for air, Dark Phantom tried to get himself up in time, but was too late to escape Sigma, who grabbed him and held him up in the air by the neck. Sigma then said to him, "This is what happens to those who defy my will! DEATH TO ALL TRAITORS!!" He then threw Dark Phantom violently to the floor.

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"Duo, STOP!", yelled X. "This barrier is going to kill you if you don't pull back!"

Duo didn't listen. He continued to focus his energy on the faltering forcefield, despite the damage he is receiving. After a few minutes, the barrier finally dissapated, and Duo had kneeled to the floor, weak and in pain. Zero ran to Duo's aide and placed his (smaller) arm around his shoulder and told his friends:

"I'll help Duo! Please go and help my brother!"

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As Dark Phantom struggled to regain some of his strength, Sigma stood over him and had unsheathed his Scimtar. He held it over his head in true execution style as he said:

"You are no longer worthy of this godlike power! I will now assume it, and the humans will suffer my wrath!"

"SIGMA!! LEAVE HIM ALOOOOONE!!!"

Mega Man X had charged and punched Sigma square in the stomach, causing the bald robot to drop his sword and reel back and double over in pain. In sheer disgust, Sigma screamed, "You fool!" At that moment, X yelled out "NOW!!", and Scorch, Aurie, Buzzsaw, and Royaltie all stood in front of Sigma with weapons charged.

"BYE! SO LONG! SEE YA! LATER!", said the group as they fired charged blasts and blades. Sigma screamed as the blasts hit him in the chest and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

"That oughta shut that bald retard up!", said Aurie with a giggle. Everyone gathered around Dark Phantom, who still struggled to get up, and Zero came into the room to join them with Duo still around his shoulder.

"Thank you, Zero. I'm okay now. Go to your brother." said Duo. Zero had let go and had ran to Phantom's aide. He said to him, "Phantom! Are you okay?"

Having gained his strength back, Phantom raised his head to hear his brother's voice, and saw him alongside the Maverick Hunters. He suddenly jumped back in surprise and yelled out, "Brother! The Hunters! We have to get out of here!"

Zero ran to Phantom and said to him, "Phantom! It's okay! X just saved your life! They ALL did!"

Phantom had suddenly looked at Zero with uncertainty and said, "What? But.............. that's.......impossible!" He then turned his attention to X and said as he walked towards him, "You are my sworn enemy! We always have been since our creation! Yet after all that I have done, you save my life? Why?"

X replied calmly, "Because you weren't the same robot you were almost 100 years ago. You are a Reploid now, and I always help my fellow kind whenever they are needed. You have emotions and feelings similar to mine, and a free will, meaning that you are free of Wily's control. It's because of Dr. Wily that I had to destroy you back then, which is why I wanted to say...........I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I'm so very sorry."

Scorch stepped forward, "I'm sorry too, Phantom. I told X everything about you, about how you were once Dark Man, and when he told me about the values of being a Reploid, I had felt the same way. I'm sorry for all that I've done to you also."

After hearing the two brothers' impromptu apologies, Phantom suddenly stood there motionless as if he felt nothing. He then suddenly looked at everyone with dimmed eyes and said, "I.......I feel strange..........and confused. I feel......grateful......that you apologized to me and that you.........saved my life. I also feel......great remorse over all that I have done. As Dark Man, Dark Phantom, AND Vile! How could you forgive me for that?"

X took Phantom's taloned hand and said, "Even if it takes one step at a time, we can forgive you. If you come with us and willfully turn yourself in, we can go easier on you. As far as I'm concerned, we can be your new family if you want us to."

Phantom felt a greater deal of emotions flow through him as he said, "I......I never felt this way before. I guess there is a lot to learn about being a Reploid. Thank you, Brother! Thank you ALL, and............I'm so very sorry for all that I've done!"

Suddenly, Sigma had regained consciousness near the group and had looked over to X. Looking angry, he charged up his Forehead Beam to its highest setting and said, "Our rivalry ends now!" Phantom had immediately sensed Sigma's recovery, and had yelled "Look out!" as he pushed X out of the way of the laser, which cut right through Phantom's heart. He fell like a rock after taking the shot.

Zero had screamed "PHANTOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!" after seeing his only brother take a shot meant for his best friend. X looked in surprise at Sigma, who got up and yelled "DEATH TO ALL TRAITORS!!". Reacting quickly, X charged his X-Buster and said, "DIE ALREADY, SIGMA!!" and had fired a Level 6 Plasma Blast at him. The giant blast was enough to send Sigma crashing through the walls of Skull Castle, outside several feet into the air, and landing a few feet away from the castle with a loud thud. Sigma had once again laid there, unconscious.

Everyone had gathered around X and Zero, who tended to a gravely injured Dark Phantom. Zero said "Phantom!" and X had said "Phantom! You.....you saved my life!"

"Yes......", said Phantom weakly as he looked at X, "Now.....we are even....Mega Man." He then turned to his crimson-clad younger brother and said, "Zero. I'm......so sorry. I guess I won't.......experience true life......as a Reploid.....after all.....". Zero held Phantom's taloned hand and said to him, "You can't......die Phantom!". Phantom's eyes had dimmed as he said, "I am proud to die........now that I've found you.......and got to know the true you......and the true me."

"Phantom.", said Zero calmly.

"Listen to me........all of you......" Everyone strained their ears to what Phantom had to say:

"My master......Dr. Wily.....created the computer virus that made Sigma.....into what he is now. It cannot be destroyed.........by any other.......anti-virus. Zero..........you are....the key to stopping that......madman. Go to the basement......there's a door......protected by a passcode.......you'll know what it is.....when you get there. You'll......find your answers there....."

Phantom's grip on Zero's hand slipped away as he said these last words:

"You can.......defeat Sigma......Zero. Your success.....is......your future, and.....the.....future.....is........inevitable....................."

Finally, the body of Dark Phantom became limp and he was dead. The Wily Bot once known as Dark Man and the Maverick once known as Vile was no more. As Zero screamed "PHANTOM!!", the dead body suddenly became bathed in a bright purple light and had completely dissolved as if it were cremated. Zero began to cry as X hugged him by the shoulders, saying, "I'm sorry, Zero." Duo mournfully lowered his head, while Scorch, Royaltie, Aurie, and Buzzsaw all hugged each other in consolation.

Suddenly, a bright ball of light had appeared from where Dark Phantom's body used to be, and moved towards Zero's outstrecthed hands. The ball soon took shape into a purple-colored crystalline object and everyone peered over to see what it was:

Duo yelled out, "It is half of the Orion Crystal. I knew Phantom had it all this time."

Buzzsaw looked at the celestial crystal and said, "This must be what gave him his power!"

Aurie had jumped in and said, "Maybe the answers he said we were looking for must be the other half of the crystal! We should go down there now!"

"Right!", replied X. He turned to Zero, who's still kneeling, and said, "Zero, let's go to the basement. Once we have the whole Orion Crystal, we can beat Sigma together!" Hearing this, Zero got up with Orion Sub-Crystal in hand, wiped the tears from his eyes, and wore a look of pure determination as he said:

"Let's get to the basement, and defeat that heartless psychopath once and for all!"

Everyone shouted "YEAH!" at that remark, and they ran with Zero out of the ruined lab. The whole team of heroes was reunited once again.

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Lying backside down outside of Skull Castle, Sigma had suddenly regained consciousness and had gotten up off of the ground. He pressed a button on his belt and, like magic, most of his injuries were fixed up. After that, Sigma raised his fist in the air and declared:

"You can't destroy me that easily, X! I will defeat you and your Maverick Hunters! The otherworldly power will be MINE! And I will see the humans wriggle and writhe like a worm on a hook! HE HE HE HE HE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

He continued to laugh maniacally as he ran towards Skull Castle.

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"Are you sure it's down here, Zero?", queried X as he and his friends walked down the hall in the poorly lit basement.

"It's down here, X! Just a bit further.", said Zero. He began to sound like his old self again.

As they walked, Aurie came up to X and began to talk to him, saying, "X? When I saw Dark Phantom dying back there, it made me realize that.......well........actually. If we don't make it, I want you to know that......"

X immediately put his finger on Aurie's lip and took her hand, silently saying, "Shhhhhhh, don't worry, Aurie. We're going to finish this war together, alive. I promise you." Aurie smiled at that remark and said back, "You've always been my Meggy!" She winked and everyone silently chuckled at the "Meggy" remark, while X blushed.

"Hey! Here it is!", yelled Zero as they all came to the end of the hallway. The Hunters and Duo all stood in front of the wall-length door and had looked at Zero as he stood in front of an electronic panel with buttons and a monitor. He thought to himself as to what the password might be, and after a few minutes, he realized:

"Progeny!", yelled Zero, "Wily always considered me to be his greatest offspring, or progeny, when I was Bass! That's the password!" He then punched in the seven-letter password, and after a few blips and a voice saying "ACCESS GRANTED", the door had opened before the group, revealing a smaller version of the lab that they were last in. It included a mainframe computer and an operating table complete with prepared, yet unused, surgical instruments. However the group of heroes were paying more attention to the bright shining object that stood in the middle of the table.

The other half of the Orion Crystal.

"All right! We found it!", said Scorch. Royaltie replied, "Sigma's days are numbered!"

X moved towards the Sub-Crystal and had picked it up from its resting place and said, "C'mon Zero! Let's put this together and see what happens!" Zero had nodded in agreement with X and moved towards him with Sub-Crystal in hand. Just as they were about to put the two together:

"NO! WAIT!", yelled Duo. 

"Duo, what's wrong?", queried X. Everyone had stopped, including X and Zero, to hear what Duo had to say:

"I've just realized that if the Crystal is put together, the resulting reunification will cause an electromagnetic flux that could be too much for the crystal holders to handle. Since I'm only made of pure energy, you should let me put the two pieces together."

X and Zero nodded in agreement with what Duo said, since he knew more about the Crystal than anyone else here. They both began to hand the two pieces over to Duo, when suddenly........

A blast of energy had suddenly hit Scorch and Royaltie, paralyzing them. Aurie and Buzzsaw were also hit with the mysterious blast before they could react and they too were paralyzed. Duo, Mega Man X, and Zero all turned around to see Sigma standing before them, laughing devilishly and holding up his arm towards the three robots. Before the three could react and retaliate, Sigma had fired a large red ring of energy from his arm. So large it couldn't be avoided, and it hit X, Zero, and Duo paralyzing them and dropping the Sub-Crystals to the ground in front of Sigma.

"HE HE HE HE HE HAHAHAHAHAHA! At long last my wait is over! With this crystal, I can finally claim my godhood, and rule this entire universe!", proclaimed Sigma. He then picked up the Sub-Crystals and proceeded to unite them into one.

"NO SIGMA! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!! STOP!!!", yelled Duo as he remained kneeled and paralyzed to the floor. However it was too late. Sigma had already united the Crystal, and it flashed in a bright spectral light as it was held in his hands. Bolts of different colored energy had crackled throughout Sigma's body, and after a second of reveling in its majesty, he suddenly felt as if every organ and limb in his body was about to explode.

"W-What's......happening.....to......ennnuuugghhhh........AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" Sigma screamed in absolute torture until finally.....he exploded into nothingness. Everyone looked in extreme horror as to what had happened, and had suddenly regained the feeling in their systems as the paralysis was wearing off. They all stood up and X yelled, "I can't believe it! It looked like Sigma was torn to pieces by the Crystal's power. You were right, Duo."

The Hunters all had little time to celebrate as Buzzsaw pointed to the Crystal and yelled, "Hey! What's that!"

The Crystal still floated in mid-air as it continued to become bathed in bright light. As it dimmed down a bit, a shadow had suddenly appeared where Sigma had once stood. The shadow had taken the shape of a man and had began to become visible as he yelled out, in a thick German accent:

"AT LAST I AM FREE!! FREE TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD ONCE MORE!!"

Everyone looked in extreme awe as the shadow became more visible in the form of an old man with wild gray hair, a gray mustache, and wearing a lab coat. X and Zero knew who he is, and screamed out in utter surprise:

"DR. WILY???!!!"

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	16. Chapter 14: The Mad Doctor Is In

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Chapter 14: The Mad Doctor Is In

"Well, well well! If it isn't Mega Man! It seemed like only yesterday when we last met!"

Everybody stood dumbfounded as Dr. Albert Wily, the sworn archenemy of Mega Man, stood in the hallway holding the Orion Crystal in his hand. Alive, well, and unusually the same as he was almost 100 years ago. Scorch and Royaltie ran to join their brother and Zero as X had said to Dr. Wily:

"Dr. Wily??!! But.......but it can't be!"

Looking uncertain, Zero had said, "My father..........alive???"

Scorch had butted in and exclaimed, "It's not possible! You died 100 years ago!"

Dr. Wily had raised his finger at the group of Reploids and had coyly said, "Ahah! You merely THOUGHT I was dead! But thanks to the power of this majestic crystal, time has passed while I remain youthful and vigorous!"

"And completely insane in the membrane.", muttered Buzzsaw to himself.

The doctor had turned his attention to the green Reploid and said with a smirk, "Hmhmhm! Charming and witty to the last, Buzzsaw!"

Everyone was suddenly surprised at what Wily had said. He knew Buzzsaw's name?!

"Wha-How do you know my name?! I never even met you!", exclaimed Buzzsaw.

Dr. Wily had coyly replied, "You know, your creator did such a good job of making you out of Metal Man's shell! Too bad that none of his personality had survived the conversion.

Auroran Flash had waved her arms and said out loud, "Alright, wait a minute! What's going on here!"

Wily had raised his head and said, "It seems many questions need to be answered before I destroy you all! Well, if I must......" He then turned his attention away from the group of robots and had looked down the poorly lit hallway. He began to reminisce to himself as he spoke his mind:

"As I said, it seemed like only yesterday. This hallway was once part of my greatest stronghold, Skull Castle. Even though these walls have become weak with age and rust, I still sense that these corridors have never changed. It all started, one hundred years ago, when my most powerful creations, the StarDroids, fell at the hands of Mega Man. Even though I eluded capture yet again, I was at a loss for resources. My Robot Masters, my servants, were all destroyed and could not be rebuilt. All I had left was this crystal, which I thought at the time only dispensed Evil Energy, and two of my most powerful robot servants, Bass and Dark Man. Even though they would gladly give their lives to protect me and destroy Mega Man, a robot warrior is a terrible thing to waste. So, using the information they both stole from Dr. Light, I had them both converted into Reploids, with powers beyond anything the world has ever known. I first converted Bass into Zero, and had augmented his strength with Treble, giving him great prowess and agility. I knew Zero would be my greatest creation, since he was equal to Mega Man in power, and he was stronger, faster, and more powerful than Bass would ever hope to be! I had also taken the liberty of creating a computer virus using the brain scans of all of my Robot Masters and the Evil Energy from the crystal, and I programmed it into Zero's forehead crystal. This virus was unlike any other, since no anti-virus program would destroy it except for the one that I created, and it gave Zero the power to cause Reploids to rebel against their masters and bring the human race to his knees!"

As Wily spoke of this revelation, Zero had suddenly flashed back to the fight with Sigma in the abandoned bunker. To the scene where Zero had a badly damaged Sigma at his mercy, and he clutched his head in pain when the "W" appeared on his forehead. Sigma had taken this chance and had punched Zero in his forehead crystal with his one arm, knocking the Crimson One out cold. Snapping back into reality, Zero had thought to himself, _So......that's how Sigma got the virus. I was responsible for all this, even though Sigma became the monster by himself._ He then turned his attention back to Wily's speech.

"After I placed Zero in his capsule and sealed him in the underground bunker, I had then converted Dark Man into Dark Phantom, and knowing that the Evil Energy would become of use in the future, I had used an ion ray to split the crystal into two pieces and had placed one crystal fragment in Dark Phantom's body. I had decided to keep the other fragment for close study, and I had programmed Dark Phantom to awaken in case Zero had failed, and to find him and help him carry out his directive. After placing Dark Phantom in the bunker and sealing the door safely, I suddenly heard noises coming from outside of my castle. The Army, RoboPolice, National Guard, they were everywhere, coming after me! I ran down to this very basement and to my auxilary lab where I closed the door and hoped they would never find me! I actually wished I would not be touched by the authorities, and I felt the end was near for me! When suddenly.........the Sub-Crystal I held in my hand glowed bright, and like a vaccum trapping dust, I was sucked in, imprisoned within the Sub-Crystal, which remained untouched for over 100 years."

"So that's what happened!", said Royaltie. "It's no wonder why we never found Wily after the raid!"

Wily snapped at Roll, shouting, "Don't interrupt!" He then continued his story:

"Although I was a prisoner within a crystalline world, there WAS a dividend! The Crystal allowed me to see time pass by in the whole 100 years I was sealed away. Mega Man X coming out of Dr. Light's capsule, the outbreak of the Mavericks and the rise of Sigma, the creation of Auroran Flash and Buzzsaw, I have seen everything! I had planned and bided my time for the day someone would come, reunite the Crystal, and take my place inside! And he DID come!" Upon saying this, as Dr. Wily held the Crystal in his hands, the smoky, dark image of a face appeared in the Crystal, and his eyes glowed bright as he looked over at the Hunters.

It was Sigma.

Buzzsaw screamed, "SIGMA'S ALIVE???!!!"

Wily smiled in glee and said, "Heh heh heh! I told you nothing could destroy MY computer virus!" He then casually walked towards his "son", Zero.

"It is so good to see you again, Zero.", said Wily. "Even though you allied yourself with my worst enemy, you were everything I hoped you to be when you were your old self. Killing those weak Hunters, destroying that Headquarters, taking great advantage over......"

"Shut up!", yelled Zero. "I never want to think about that again, ever! I HATED being evil! I HATED being my old self! X is my best friend!"

"STOP!", bellowed Wily in anger, "I don't want to hear you this weak!"

"It is not weak TO VALUE JUSTICE!!", interrupted Zero. "You might have thought I was all-powerful and strong when you made me into a Reploid, but you never realized that I was released from your control and given a free will! A CHOICE!!"

Glaring at Zero and looking very steamed, Wily replied calmly, "Then I will give you a choice NOW! I will give you one last chance to join me by my side once more as my son, my heir, my GENERAL! We can take over this world easily and make all humans and Reploids bow before us! What is your decision, Zero?! Your weak friends.......or your only family?!"

Zero vehemently turned away from Dr. Wily and had thought about what he said. What would he choose? His friends or his father? After a moment of thinking, all of his friends looked on as he turned back to Wily with a look of pure determination and had said, proud, strong, and true:

"My friends ARE my family! You, however, are nothing but a senile, rotten old FART!!"

Everyone smiled and cheered at Zero's declaration, while Wily clenched his teeth in frustration. He stormed towards a depression in the wall as he yelled, "BETRAYER!! You shall DIE along with them!!" He then pushed the red button and before anyone could react, a trap door opened below the group of seven and they all fell into a deep, black hole. Wily had cackled maniacally at the Hunters' misfortune, but soon stopped when he saw Duo, covered in a bright, blue aura, flying out from the hole and hovering overhead. He yelled out, "WILY! You will not get away with this!"

As the trap door closed, Wily smiled madly and said back to the energized robot, "Hmhmhmhm! Oh yes I will! I WILL!!" He then held up the Orion Crystal towards Duo and had hit him with a thick beam of purple energy, causing him to groan in pain and fall to the ground. With purple flames coarsing through his body, Duo laid there motionless and powerless.

As he passed Duo, Wily said to him, "Maybe that will teach you not to mess with a MAD SCIENTIST! MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

As Wily walked towards the small mainframe in the auxilary lab, a voice, barely audible, had emanated from the Orion Crystal held in the mad doctor's hand. Sigma's voice.

"WIIIIIIIIIIIIILYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

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The six Hunters screamed as they fell down the large hole. They finally fell into a large arena littered with piles of rather large, mechanical looking boulders, and they hit the ground with a thud. Everyone had groaned in unison as they all tried to get up. Scorch had sarcastically said to his friends, "Well! That was a real screwed-up reunion!"

X had ignored his brother's remark and said to everybody, "Is everybody OK??"

They all nodded their heads in confirmation, except for Auroran Flash, who was rubbing her injured leg that had been damaged by Wire Sponge earlier. She yelled, "OOOOOHHH! My leg HURTS! OW!!"

X and Buzzsaw ran to tend to Aurie. Buzz said to X, "The fall must have triggered the pain in her injury! She needs a painkiller and a new bandage, X." X nodded in agreement and said to Aurie, "Don't worry Aurie. We'll get out of here and get you some help!"

Her face twisted in displeasure, Aurie replied, "Ohhhhhhhh! I hope it's soon! It really hurts!"

Suddenly, a voice boomed out in the arena's loudspeaker. It was Dr. Wily.

"MWAH HAHAHA! I would've destroyed you just now with the power of the Crystal, but I will not rob one of my most favorite creations of that pleasure, since he had been waiting as long as I to deal with betrayers like you! Rock Monster, ATTAAAAACK!"

"The Rock Monster?!" said X and Scorch in unison. Suddenly, a small alcove opened up on a nearby wall and had released a large, mechanical eye. The eye had hovered over the group of heroes and had emitted sparks of energy from the two antennae on its sides. Suddenly, as if possessed by some unseen force, the mechanical rocks in the room had begun to move and fly towards the eye. The rocks had pieced together to form a giant's body as if pieceing together a puzzle, and soon the ancient, yet powerful, Rock Monster had fully formed and towered over the Maverick Hunters. It uttered a low pitched roar as it looked down at our heroes.

"Whoa! How do we stop a thing like that?!", exclaimed Buzzsaw.

X turned to the green Reploid and said, "We'll know how to handle it! Go and protect Aurie!" Buzzsaw nodded and replied, "I will protect her with my life!". X smiled at Buzz's dedication, and had turned to face the giant, only to get a faceful of rock thrown by the Rock Monster and get knocked to the ground.

Royaltie exclaimed, "X!! Are you alright?!" As Mega Man X tried to regain his composure, he yelled to his comrades, "The EYE! Aim for the eye!"

Having avoided another rock attack, Scorch and Royaltie had taken careful aim and fired at the Rock Monster's eye. The shots, however, bounced right off as it closed its eye. As Scorch and Royaltie looked on in disbelief as their attempt had failed, the Rock Monster roared as it opened its eye and it fired a large burst of plasma at the two siblings, which hit the floor next to them and knocked them back a few feet.

With a look of determination, Zero yelled, "I got him!" and had ran towards the Monster with Beam Sabre drawn. He sliced the lower half of its leg, causing some of the mechanical rock sections to fall off. The Monster, however, didn't reel back in pain. It let out a roar and several more mechanical rocks came from out of nowhere. One of them had taken Zero by surprise and had hit him in the head as it passed by and helped heal the gash that was left by Zero's Beam Sabre. Zero fell to the floor and had clutched his head in pain.

"ZERO! I'm coming!", yelled X. He fired several blasts at the Rock Monster's eye as he ran to aid his friend. The Monster, of course, had closed his eye to shield itself from the plasma blasts, and it retaliated with its own blast, which Mega Man avoided. He came to Zero and had helped him off the ground, and they both managed to run away before the Rock Monster could stomp the Hunters with his enormous foot.

As the giant slowly stomped its way towards the hapless group, Buzzsaw looked on at the Monster and had exclaimed, "I have to do something!". He then turned back to Aurie as she said, "Go on ahead and help them, Buzz! I'll be fine! I can take care of myself!" She then tried to get up, only to sit back down, groaning in pain and rubbing her sore leg. Buzzsaw had turned away for a second and had began to think about some things. He thought back to the time when Aurie saved his life, and to the time he fought that simulated War Mech in the Training Arena the day before.

Snapping back to reality, he turned back to Aurie with a look of pure determination and said to her, "You protected me once, Aurie! Now it is time I honor my promise and return the favor!"

Aurie wore a look of happiness at Buzz, but it soon turned to a look of fear as she pointed and screamed, "*SHRIEK*!!! BUZZ LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!!!" Buzz had whirled around to see the Rock Monster looming ominously close towards their position. Everyone screamed, "LOOK OUT BUZZ!!!", but he didn't run. The Monster had once again fired its plasma laser at Buzz, only for it to be nullified and destroyed by the barrage of Buzz's Enchanted Blades. He then unsheathed his sapphire-green Beam Sabre and ran towards the monster while uttering a shrill battle cry. He jumped greatly to avoid the Rock Monster's punch, and had flown towards the Monster's eye and had landed right on the Monster's face. Before it could fire, Buzz had quickly taken his Beam Sabre and drove it right into the giant's eye, cutting right through the armor and into the center. It roared in absolute pain as Buzz slashed it several times successfully, destroying the eye completely, and as Buzz dismounted the doomed giant, the Rock Monster completely fell apart. Boulder after boulder had fallen to the ground and had crumbled to dust upon impact. 

The Rock Monster was no more.

Holding his Beam Sabre victoriously in the air, Buzzsaw yelled out, "HA HAAA!! Another giant toppled by the mighty hand of Buzzzzzzzsaaaaaaaawwwww the RIGHTEOUS!!!" Everyone smiled and cheered at Buzz's victory, while X and Zero simply smirked and laughed as Zero said, "Like I keep saying, that guy is soooooo full of himself!"

Sheathing his Beam Sabre once more, Buzzsaw had noticed a large beat-up box with a red cross on its face, which had been revealed by the destruction of the Rock Monster and said, "Hey! Here's a First-Aid kit! How convienient. I'll fix you up in a jiffy, Aurie!"

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Watching the entire battle unfold from his auxilary lab, Dr. Wily slammed his foot in anger and had yelled out "BLAST! My Rock Monster lost......AGAIN! Well, that's it! No more Rock Monsters EVER! And while I'm on the subject, no more Metalls with party favors either!"

As Wily continued to rant about his failure, the Orion Crystal that rested on the table near Wily began to glow bright purple. The clouded face of Sigma had appeared inside the Crystal, and Wily had turned his attention to it as Sigma said to him, in an otherworldly tone:

"Dr. Wily! At long last we meet!"

"Sigma?", said Wily.

"Listen to me, Wily!", said Sigma, "We both have the same goal, the same ambition, the same ENEMIES! Mega Man X, Zero, and his friends will never stop fighting until we die, or until THEY die! Destiny has indeed brought us here together, and I believe we should unite with the power of the Crystal to make our reign unstoppable!"

"What do you mean "unite" with the Crystal?", queried Wily.

Sigma replied, "You've seen how just one Sub-Crystal works for the holder. For you, me, and Dark Phantom, it does more than just charge a robot or Reploid with Evil Energy. It grants wishes, uses magic, increases your power a thousand fold. Just think about it! Me with my strength and power, you with your robotic ingenuity! Together we can no longer be defeated again!"

Wily still looked uncertain as he said, "Why would you be this willing to ally yourself with me?"

Sigma replied, "Because it was you that had made me who I am today! It was your virus that made me immortal! Believe me, I owe you greatly! This Crystal can grant you immortality too! We can even be rulers of this universe! But you must decide NOW!"

After hearing what Sigma had said, Wily had turned his back and had thought about it for a minute. As he thought, Duo had began to recover from his paralyzing ordeal with Dr. Wily earlier.

Finally, Wily turned to face Sigma in the Crystal and had said with a twisted smile, "I have the design of the most deadliest robot ever created in my head! Are you seeing what I am thinking?"

Sigma replied gleefully, "YES! This Battle Body is PERFECT!!"

Wily then yelled with mad glee, "ALRIGHT THEN! LET'S DO IT!!" With that, Wily had then grabbed the Crystal and spectrums of light began to emanate from the Crystal in a spectacular light show. As he was bathed in a bright light, Wily along with Sigma could be heard laughing insanely as their twisted wishes became reality:

"HE HE HE HE HE HE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

As this was happening, Duo had concentrated all of his power and had finally dissapated the flames of paralyzing energy from his body. He then shielded his eyes from the blinding light and had yelled, "OH NO! MY WORST FEAR!!" Acting quickly, Duo had punched the floor below him, opening the trap door below him, and had flew down the hole as Wily and Sigma continued their "unification".

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"There you go, Aurie! Good as new!" said Buzzsaw as he finished patching up Aurie's leg wound. Aurie stood up and walked around with no apparent trouble. X, Zero, Scorch, and Royaltie were all within earshot as they hear Aurie and Buzz say:

"Thank you, Buzz! You truly are a Righteous guy!"

"And you truly are a Mega Goddess!"

As they watched Buzz bowing and Aurie giggling, Zero whispered to X, "I wonder why we didn't bring a camera?"

X replied, "A camera? Heck, we should've brought a movie crew." They all chuckled at that remark.

All the laughter had stopped when suddenly, the entire castle began to shake violently. Everyone wore panic-stricken looks on their faces when X yelled, "What's going on?!"

At that moment, Duo had crashed through the ceiling in the arena in the form of blue energy. He turned back to normal and had said as he hovered in the air, "We have to get out of here NOW!! This castle is going to break apart soon!! HURRY!!!" X had nodded in agreement and had said to the other Hunters, "I think we better do what he says! LET'S BOLT!!". With that, the six Hunters and Duo had teleported right out of the arena before it collapsed, and out of Skull Castle.

Appearing on a small plateau a few miles away, Mega Man X and all of his friends watched in shock as Skull Castle, the former home of Dr. Wily, had become rocked with explosions and crumbled to the ground. Everyone had mixed emotions as they watched it fall:

"That kind of thing sure takes me back!", said Scorch.

"Duo! What happened? Did Wily commit suicide?" asked X.

"I wish he did. Look!" Duo had pointed towards where Skull Castle crumbled and suddenly, a beam of spectral light had shot out of the ruins and had touched the night sky, causing very large storm clouds to billow over the desert as if by some kind of an omen. Everyone looked in extreme shock as the beam became wider and a strange, gigantic creature had arisen from the beam of light. It became visible to everyone as Buzzsaw yelled, "What the @#!$%# is THAT THING??!!"

The giant robot was cobalt blue and muscular. Covering its entire body was what looked like bones, making it look like a giant skeleton. Its arms wore menacing-looking, spike-lined gauntlets, and its legs were roughly the length of a building. Its head looked like Sigma's skull, and it had glowing, blood-red eyes. It let out an unholy yell as lightning flashed in the darkened sky, feeling almost as if the Devil himself had appeared on Earth.

Looking very concerned, Aurie said, "Whoa! Now that's one scary-looking giant!"

Royaltie turned to Duo and asked, "Duo! Who is that?! What's happening??!!"

Duo kept looking at the giant robot as he replied:

"Our worst nightmares................UNIFIED!!"

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	17. Chapter 15: Apocalypse....ALREADY???

****

Chapter 15: Apocalypse....ALREADY???

Mega Man X, Zero, Scorch, Buzzsaw, Auroran Flash, Royaltie, and Duo all continued to look at the gigantic robot in awe as they all stood a few miles away from it. The robot itself had stepped out of the remains of Skull Castle and it begins to survey the landscape. Fortunately, it never sees the Maverick Hunters standing on the small plateau nearby. After a moment of surveying, the robot's eyes light up and it yells, "This is the beginning of OUR new era! Our time has finally come!". It then turns to its left and proceeds to walk off towards the horizon.

"Dude, that sure is one weird robot!", said Buzzsaw.

"It sounded a lot like Sigma!", said Scorch.

"That's because it IS Sigma!", said Duo, "It is Sigma's new Battle Body! Powered by the Crystal's energy and created by Dr. Wily's insane mind! They unified their own powers with the Crystal to create the ultimate doomsday weapon! Indeed, the Crystal's full extent of its dark power is what I fear the most, as it could destroy EVERYTHING!"

"This is horrible!", lamented Aurie, "Now everything's going to end up in the crapper!"

"Don't give up hope yet, Aurie!", interrupted X, "Duo! Is there anything, ANYTHING we could do to stop them!"

Duo looked down on X and after hesitating for a moment, he replied, "There is one way, but it is extremely risky. Sigma and Wily had established a connection with the Orion Crystal when they made their wishes. If I had enough time, I could use my powers to break the link between them and their powers will become useless. However, I could only do it from the inside of that robot, and who knows WHAT kind of weaponry that Wily and the Crystal had given it. Again, we are taking a serious risk."

Royaltie had stepped forward and said, "It's a risk that we HAVE to take!"

X also stepped forward and said, "Roll is right! We have a chance to make everything right! This could be the greatest final battle of all time, and if we stop now, no one will be safe from these lunatics! We have to stop them now, or die trying!"

X smiled as there were a couple of "YEAHs" and "ALLRIGHTs" and even one "AW WHAT THE HEY!" in the crowd. X then motioned for everybody to gather around and said, "Great! Now here's what we'll do! First, we have to figure out....."

As X continued outlaying his plans, Zero had wandered a short distance away from the group, lost in his thoughts. He thought to himself:

It was all my fault! MINE! If I had only learned when I came out of that capsule, there never would have been a confrontation and Sigma would have never gotten ahold of the..........wait a minute!

Suddenly, at that moment, a number of flashbacks had appeared in Zero's head. He heard the voices of Sigma, Dr. Wily, and Dark Phantom, all in order:

****

"Yes! The secret weapon! The computer virus that Wily created to bring the Reploid race under Zero's command! The very same virus that manifested itself into my program and transformed ME into a living computer virus, no! A TRUE GOD OF MACHINES!!"

"This virus was unlike any other, since no anti-virus program would destroy it except for the one that I created!"

"My master......Dr.Wily.....created the computer virus that made Sigma.....into what he is now. It cannot be destroyed.........by any other.......anti-virus. Zero..........you are....the key to stopping that......madman. You can.......defeat Sigma......Zero. Your success.....is......your future, and.....the.....future.....is........inevitable....................."

Snapping back into reality, Zero had yelled out, "Of course! THAT'S IT!!"

Responding to Zero's outburst, the Hunters all turned to face him and had wore questioning looks on their faces. X said to Zero, "Zero! What is it?"

Looking square into X's eyes, Zero answered back, "I know how I can defeat Sigma!"

Everyone surprisingly replied, "HOW??!!"

Zero turned his back and said, "I wish I could tell you now, but there's no time! Go and keep them busy while I warn Dr. Cain!" He then proceeded to run off towards Enlitia.

X yelled out, "Zero, WAIT!"

Zero answered back while he still kept running, "Go ahead without me! I'll catch up!" X tried to call again, but it was too late. Zero was already out of earshot.

"What's gotten into Zero?", said Aurie.

"I don't know, Aurie.", replied X. "I'm no longer sure how he thinks. Maybe he does have an answer to destroying Sigma...or maybe he doesn't. After all, he DID carry the virus that made Sigma into......"

"Hey guys!", interrupted Buzzsaw, "Could we PLEASE get this battle started while we still have a world to battle for!"

"Buzz is right, bro!", added Scorch. "We need to find out where Sigma and Wily went before innocent lives can be taken!"

Nodding his head in agreement, X said, "Okay, Scorch. However, leave the finding out part to me. Everyone stand back!"

Everyone had moved an inch away from X as he faced the direction that the Sigma robot was last sighted. He pushed a button on the side of his helmet, and green, shade-style glasses appeared like magic over X's eyes. This is his Tracer Scanner, a part of Dr. Light's Ultimate Armor that he gave for X. Using the Scanner's night vision and magnifying capabilities, X had magnified the spot to where Sigma was last seen, and after increasing the distance of the sight from 200x to 3500x to 10,000x, he finally sighted the giant robot moving towards a very familiar place.

After turning off the Tracer Scanner and as he turned toward his comrades, X had yelled out:

"They're heading towards Mocpac City! We have to go NOW!!"

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As the giant robot made its way towards Mocpac City, diverse crowds of humans and Reploids had crammed the streets, screaming and hollering in extreme terror, running away in different directions as the impending threat of a "monster" loomed the airwaves. As the people of the great city continued to run in fear, Sigma had entered the most populated part and had began to stomp small buildings and punch down taller buildings within its path. He yelled out to the evacuating townspeople, "YES! RUN! RUN YOU PITIFUL WEAKLINGS! RUN FROM UNI-SIGMA!!" He then looked towards a nearby set of mountains overlooking the city, and his eyes had glowed a brighter shade of red, followed by the sound of a charging blaster. After a couple of minutes, it had suddenly let loose a large blast of red energy right at the mountain range, and upon impact, had caused a powerful explosion and had disintegrated the range as well as a fair chunk of the horizon. Some of the denziens of the city that had evacuated early had watched the blast from afar, and could not believe that this giant robot had such unlimited power.

One person in the crowd had yelled, "It's the end! The world is finally coming to an end!"

As Uni-Sigma stood proud and still in the middle of the city, Dr. Wily himself had laughed maniacally as he stood within the specially made cockpit within Uni-Sigma's skull. He ranted to himself, "MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHA! It feels so good to be back in the saddle! There's nothing like the sight of people screaming and total destruction to make me feel so young again! Well, Sigma, now that we have gotten the feel of our new powers, what shall we do next?!"

Blaring through loudspeakers within the skull, Sigma had replied, "Let us go to 2215 Cossack Drive! I have something personal there that I want to finish!"

Smiling wickedly at Sigma's request, Wily answered back, "Hmhmhmhm! Very well! It is best to get personal matters out of the way first before we can achieve our destiny! Our destiny......TO RULE! MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" He continued to laugh maniacally as he pushed a button on the nearby console.

In a split second, Uni-Sigma had sprung to life once again, its red eyes glaring, and turned around. He knocked down another tall building to the ground as he moved towards another part of Mocpac City.

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Mega Man X and all of his friends (minus Zero) had finally managed to make it to the city after a long run. As they arrived, Scorch had said, "Looks like we're too late! Parts of the city are already destroyed!"

Buzzsaw wore a look of disbelief as he said, "I can't believe they did this!"

Auroran Flash had jumped in and said, "Looks like we're going to have a hard time trying to defeat this robot!"

Suddenly, a screaming townsperson came from around the corner and towards the group, shouting, "HELP! HELP! OUR CITY IS DOOMED!! THE GIANT WILL DESTROY US ALL!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

X grabbed the hysterical human male and said to him, "SIR! Please calm down! Which way did the robot go??!!"

Having calmed down a "teensy" bit, the man replied loudly, "The Global Convention Center now LET ME GO!!!" He then broke free of X's grip and had continued to run and scream in a frenzy, shouting, "THE END IS HERE!!! THEY'LL KILL US ALL!!!"

After that rushed scene, Buzz had jokingly said, "What got into him?? It's just Sigma."

X turned to his comrades and commanded, "We must get to the Convention Center if we are to ever stop Sigma and Wily! Let's go, NOW!" The group then proceeded to run towards the direction of the Convention Center, all the while as X thought to himself, _Zero! I need you by my side! I sure would like to know what the heck you are doing!_

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"ALL MAVERICK HUNTERS MOBILIZE AND REPORT TO YOUR AVAILABLE TRANSPORTS IMMEDIATELY!! CODE RED!!! CODE RED!!!"

As Zero ran towards the Command Center in Maverick Hunter Headquarters, thousands of Maverick Hunters scurried all over the base like frenized mice, suiting up and charging weapons for battle. It is obvious that the Maverick Hunters are answering the call to Mocpac City, and are preparing for the war to end all wars.

Upon entering the main computer room of the Command Center, Zero had found Dr. Cain standing in front of the vidscreen, watching the news report of Uni-Sigma destroying Mocpac City in despair.

Zero yelled, "Dr. Cain!"

Dr. Cain turned to face the crimson Reploid and said, "Zero! I'm so happy to see you're alive! Are you alright?"

Zero replied, "Yea, I'm fine. Did you see....."

"Yes, Zero. I saw the news report.", interrupted Dr. Cain. "I've already mobilized all remaining units of the Maverick Hunters to Mocpac City. But I'm afraid with our forces depleted due to the Psycho-Mavericks, we don't stand a chance."

Zero wore a look of determination on his face as he said, "Dr. Cain! I need to know! Do you still have the Doppler Anti-Virus stored here?"

Dr. Cain replied, "Yes? But why do you need it?"

Zero took Dr. Cain's hand in a father/son type way and replied, "I need you to do me a favor. Please." At first looking uncertain, Dr. Cain had closed his eyes and nodded in agreement.

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Stomping on the very street where X, Zero, Aurie, and Buzz had fought Vile and the Mavericks a day ago, Uni-Sigma had walked towards the Global Convention Center. Inside the cockpit, Dr. Wily laughed as he said, "Let us show everybody how futile peace really is, and that FEAR is the dominant power!"

Raising his fist in the air, Uni-Sigma had yelled out, "HERE'S TO THE HUMANS' ACCURSED WORLD PEACE!!" With that, he slammed it into the top dome of the Convention Center, breaking it apart and caving in the large arena inside. Uni-Sigma had continued to smash the once majestic building until it was nothing more than a pile of rubble.

Having arrived to the scene too late, X and his friends all looked in horror as to what Uni-Sigma had done. Royaltie yelled out in despair, "NOOOOOOOOO! Not the Convention Center!"

X screamed, "SIGMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! WILYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

Reacting to X's yell, Uni-Sigma had turned away from the rubble and had looked down to the Maverick Hunters. Dr. Wily also looked down and had sarcastically said, "Oh look! Action figures! Now this IS a party!"

X immediately yelled out, "EVERYONE OPEN FIRE!!!" With that, X, Scorch, Royaltie, and Aurie fired charged plasma blasts, Buzzsaw fired Enchanted Blades, and Duo fired blue fireballs of energy, all at Uni-Sigma's chest. However, none of the blasts, no matter how strong they were, had made a dent in the giant Reploid, and Sigma merely laughed at the Hunters' futile chance as he raised his hand and fired a barrage of narrow plasma beams from his fingertips at the group.

"SCATTER!!", yelled X. Everyone stopped firing and had separated in several directions before the beams could hit them. Now taking cover, the Hunters continued to fire at Uni-Sigma, but no one was prepared for what would happen next:

Uni-Sigma had fired a large fireball from his other hand at Scorch and Royaltie. The ensuing blast had sent the two siblings flying and landing in the middle of the road. Next, Sigma had released a barrage of missiles from his shoulders and had sent them after Buzzsaw and Aurie. They ran to avoid the spread of missiles and was successful, but they were unsuccessful in avoiding the explosions and it left them incapacitated and slightly singed, but alive. Uni-Sigma then turned to see Duo charging towards him with blinding speed. Just as fast as Duo charged, Sigma had swung his fist, which hit Duo with preciseness and timing, and had sent him crashing into a nearby building.

After seeing his friends fall, Mega Man X had charged his X-Buster to Level 6, outspread his Nova Strike wings, and flew right in front of the skeletal, mean-grinning face of Uni-Sigma. Dr. Wily looked right at X and said to him, "X is not as smart as I once thought! Hmhmhmhmhm! Let's bugzap this metallic mosquito!" He then pressed a button and two antennae had extracted from both sides of Sigma's head. X yelled, "Have a taste of THIS, Wily!" as he fired a Level 6 Plasma Blast at Sigma's face, but as before, it did nothing. Then suddenly, bolts of electricity had fired from the antennae and had hit X, shocking him greatly. He screamed in pain as he fell from the sky.

As Aurie had come to and looked in the sky, she screamed "MEGGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!" as X fell and hit the ground. Everyone also saw what happened and had ran to tend to their leader as Uni-Sigma bellowed, "DEATH TO ALL TRAITORS!!!"

"Mega Man! Are you alright?", said Royaltie. X had managed to regain the feeling in his systems and had gotten up as he said, "Unnnnnngh......I'm alright. The Ultimate Armor absorbed most of the shock. However, none of our weapons aren't doing SQUAT!" X had little time to lament some more as Uni-Sigma raised his giant foot and prepared to squash our heroes. Buzzsaw yelled, "LOOK OUT!" and everyone managed to get out of the way of Sigma's earthquake-causing stomp.

As they all regained their composure from this latest attack, Scorch yelled out, "What are we going to do!"

Duo wore a blank expression on his face and said, "All we could do now is pray for a miracle." When it seemed like all was lost to our heroes and they were ready to give up, the miracle that they prayed for had come. Thousands of jet noises were heard coming from the outside of the town, and had gotten louder as they came towards Uni-Sigma's position.

"GUYS!! LOOK!!!", yelled Aurie as she pointed towards the sky.

X and his friends knew what they were. It was the Maverick Hunters, all in their respective transports heading towards the giant robot like a fleet of ships with guns drawn. Calling out from a loudspeaker on one of the largest ships, Dr. Cain said, "FIRE ALL WEAPONS!!" With that, an incredible barrage of diverse weaponfire, whether it be missiles, plasma shots, mortar shells, or fireballs, was fired from the MH Fleet at Uni-Sigma's body. The monster bellowed in anger as it felt the shots pierce its metal skin and it fired its own weapons at the fleet, causing a few ships to crash. One of the ships had swooped down right in front of Sigma's face and a voice called out from it:

"Okay, Ice! Now's your chance! Give him the cold stare!" It was Slash.

A door opened from the transport and Ice Blue X stepped right into the entryway, and had immediately fired a fully-charged Freeze Beam right into Sigma's eyes, forming a really thick wall of ice over his eyes.

"Nothing burns hotter than ICE!", yelled Icey in a sexy way, "Alright, Slash! Get us outta here!" With that, she closed the transport door and the jet flew away from Uni-Sigma.

Uni-Sigma had roared in sheer madness as the ice was blinding him. He fired all of his weapons in all directions in the sky in order to hit the fleet of ships. Fortunately, several of the ships flew from the area before he fired, and only a few casualties were reported. Finally, after a few minutes of fuming, Sigma had shined his eyes, melting and breaking the ice wall that Icey had left, and as Dr. Wily said from inside the cockpit, "Blast those Maverick Hunters! It is time to kill them all in one swift stroke!", they both had began to charge Uni-Sigma's Death Star-style Eye Beam.

X and his friends watched Sigma charge his weapon and Buzz said, "What is he doing up there?" X suddenly sensed that this could be trouble. Big trouble. X had yelled out, "EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!". Just as they were about to run, Scorch had suddenly pointed towards the sky and yelled, "Hey, wait a minute! What's that?!" Scorch was pointing at a lone jet heading towards Uni-Sigma with blinding speed. It suddenly sped past the giant robot, and a small figure lept out of the jet towards Sigma's eyes. Just as Uni-Sigma was about to fire his doomsday weapon, the small figure flashed something in front of Sigma's eyes, causing Sigma to cease the firing sequence and clutch his eyes in pain. The figure fell gracefully to the ground and our heroes went to see who saved them:

It was Zero, who landed with Beam Sabre drawn. It is apparent that Zero fell in front of Sigma and had slashed his eye weapon with his Beam Sabre, destroying it and blinding him.

Everyone yelled in surprise, "ZERO!!!" Buzz even yelled after that, "Man! You came just in the nick of time!" Everyone looked up to see Sigma yelling in pain and anger while clutching his eyes. Both he and Wily yelled, "CURSE YOU ZERO!!!", and then they both disappeared in a flash of light. 

Everyone in the town, both humans and Reploids, cheered the Maverick Hunters as Mocpac City was saved, and soon X, Zero, Scorch, Aurie, Royaltie, Buzzsaw, Duo, Ice Blue X, and Slash all joined each other and celebrated this jovial, yet temporary, victory. All the other Maverick Hunters landed their transports and ran to join their comrades in celebration and triumph.

"Great job, Zero!", yelled X, "Man, talk about cutting it close!"

"Yeah, Zero!", said Buzzsaw, "I guess this means we've settled our bet! Taking down a giant doomsday weapon sure was enough for YOU to break my old record!"

"Thanks, Buzz!", said Zero as he shook Buzz's hand, "But I think now is not the time for you to give me a free Meredith Brooks CD!"

The entire crowd was soon quieted by the commanding, yet frail, presence of Dr. Cain. He said to everyone, "Listen to me, everyone! Even though we stopped them for now, this battle with Sigma and Wily is not over yet!"

"Dr. Cain is right!", added Duo, "They still have the Orion Crystal! As long as they have it, no one will ever be safe! The power within will eventually......huh?"

Suddenly Duo was interrupted and everyone else looked up to see two flashes of light appearing before them. The flashes soon took shape and the images of Sigma and Wily appeared before the group. They spoke mainly to X and Zero as Wily spoke:

"Mega Man and Zero! It is obvious that nothing will ever get accomplished until our rivalries are finished! That is why Sigma and I challenge the both of you to a final duel within the Uni-Sigma robot back at the desert!"

Sigma jumped in and continued, "Our final battle will determine the fate of both the human and Reploid race! It will also determine who will have the Orion Crystal for themselves! We will teleport you to the robot in a couple of minutes, so you better say your last goodbyes to your weak friends, as this is a battle you will NEVER win! HE HE HE HE HE HE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" With that, the images both disappeared, leaving everybody, including X and Zero, to realize that the climax was finally near.

"I can't believe this is finally it! We're finally going to fight our enemies one last time!', said X.

"We'll fight them together, X! And when we do, we WILL succeed!", declared Zero as he raised his fist in the air. They then looked towards all of their friends, wondering if it should be for the last time:

"Be swift, and be safe, bro!", said Scorch.

"Please come back alive, X! I don't want to lose you again!", said Royaltie as she began to cry.

"Good luck, compadres! Whatever happens, remember it has always been a pleasure fighting by your side!", said Buzzsaw as he saluted.

"The feeling's mutual, Buzz! Good luck, X and Zero!", said Slash as he also saluted.

"I know you guys will kick some major butt! Go for it, dudes!", said Ice Blue X.

Duo stepped forward and said to them, "I will try to come and help you as best as I can! Remember it will take all of us to break the Crystal's link!"

Dr. Cain lowered his eyes and bowed as he said, "Be strong, both of you, and Godspeed to you all!"

All that remained was Aurie, who's eyes began to well up with tears and she ran to hug X as she said, "Ohhhhhh! I don't want you to go, X! There's still something I need to tell you! *sniff*!"

X looked down at Aurie with comforting eyes and said to her, "It's okay, Aurie. This is something I have to do, since it determines all of our fates. I will come back to be with you. I promise!" They both embraced for a second and then let go. Finally, swirls of light had surrounded X and Zero and they soon began to disappear. All of the Maverick Hunters saluted them as they vanished, except for Aurie, who held her hands and whispered towards the area where X left:

"With all my heart, I love you, Mega Man X." A tear ran down her cheek and the wind blew through her hair as she closed her eyes.

The future has come. It is time for the final battle.

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Proceed To Chapter 16!

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	18. Chapter 16: Two Different People, Two Di...

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Chapter 16: Two Different People, Two Different Fates

In a flash of spectral light, Mega Man X and Zero had appeared within the main chest cavity of the giant Uni-Sigma robot. Inside of this robot was a twisted mass of wires, pistons, and pipes, but what was more awe-inspiring about this setup was the giant reactor standing before the two Reploids. It had a glowing ball of green energy in its middle, and the wires sticking out of both ends revealed it had been feeding energy to all areas of the robot, giving it incredible power.

"Wow!", said X in astonishment, "I guess this is the main reactor of the giant robot."

Zero added, "X! This looks similar to a nuclear reactor. If it exploded, the blast would be enough to destroy half of the world!"

"You're right, Zero.", replied X, "We'd better watch ourselves when we fight the final battle." Suddenly, as X finished that last sentence, a bubble of pure energy had formed around the surprised two and had raised them up towards the top. As they looked out of it, they could see that the ceiling above them was massive, and they could see the exposed top of the main reactor.

Zero turned towards his friend and said, "X."

Mega Man X turned to face his friend and replied, "What is it, Zero?" He strained his ears to hear what Zero had to say:

"Whether we win this day or not........if something happens to me, I want you to know this. Even though we never were friends in the past, I'm glad that we did become friends now. I want to say that.......it was great to fight alongside you, and I'm so glad I became your best friend."

X had smiled at Zero's little speech, and replied to him, "I'm very lucky to have a friend like you." They then hugged each other like brothers, and had high fived just as they reached to the very top of the Uni-Sigma robot.

They both ended up in the main cockpit within Sigma's skull, and the bubble popped, dropping them to the ground with a thud. X and Zero had quickly gotten up and looked towards the end of the cockpit to see Dr. Albert Wily standing before them. He got down from the platform and said to the two, "Welcome......to my NIGHTMARE!"

"Aw, c'mon Wily!", said X sarcastically, "Be a little more original with the villain cliches!"

"Silence you azure fool!", yelled Wily, "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment! Now at last I have the power to destroy you, Mega Man X! My worst enemy!"

"Give us your best shot, Doc!", said Zero.

Dr.Wily turned towards his former creation and said to him, "Ah, Zero! When I put you in that capsule those many years ago, I expected you to follow in my footsteps! Now I see you have become f-f-f-FRIENDS with that blue dweeb! Instead of destroying you myself, I will leave your fate in the hands of my greatest achievement ever!"

Suddenly, after Wily finished that sentence, swirls of light had gathered around Zero and he had suddenly disappeared.

"ZERO!", screamed X.

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Zero had reappeared and suddenly found himself back into the reactor room of the giant robot. Just before he could climb himself back up to the main cockpit, a figure made completely out of gridlines had appeared before him. In a flash of lightning and energy, this familiar figure had taken a solid form. 

It was Sigma, suited up in his (very first!) Battle Body.

"Zero!", said Sigma.

"Sigma!", said Zero.

"Remember when I had this Battle Body, Zero?", said Sigma. "It was when we first met, in that warehouse, when you were a Maverick and I was a Maverick Hunter. Now I think it is time that we finish the battle we had all those years ago, and determine the TRUE victor!"

"Alright then, you bald retard!", replied Zero as he unsheathed his Beam Sabre, "LET'S DANCE!!"

Sigma had smirked, unsheathed his Beam Sabre, and had uttered his battle cry as he charged towards Zero with blinding speed. Zero had blocked his advance with his Beam Sabre, and had spin-slashed Sigma, only for him to avoid it. They continued to swing at each other with their Sabres in a true swordfight. After a few minutes of slicing, blocking, and ducking, they both charged again and upon impact, their Sabres locked, as well as their determined stares. They finally jumped away from each other after a moment of friction. Sigma smirked evilly at Zero and had fired several rounds of energy balls from his forehead towards the Crimson Wonder. Zero had ran, backflipped, and jumped to avoid this latest onslaught, which met with great results as he avoided them all gracefully, except for one stray energy ball which managed to hit Zero square in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. Sigma again smiled evilly at Zero's misfortune, charged at him, and had smacked him in the head with his forearm, forcing Zero against the railing near the reactor. Fortunately, Zero managed to regain his bearings just as he was about to end up at the receiving end of Sigma's Beam Sabre. He dodged just in time to see the Sabre dent the railing next to him, and he retaliated by kicking Sigma in the chest.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit of the giant robot....................

"Well, Wily?", said Mega Man X, "What are you going to fight me with? One of your stupid Cloaking Machines?"

After that sentence, the mad doctor outstretched his arms, yelled out in pure battlecry fashion, and he was suddenly bathed in a bright white light. X shielded his eyes from the light, and looked on in astonishment as Dr. Wily began to transform himself with the power of the Orion Crystal. After a few moments of cool special effects, X looked to see that Wily was transformed into a robotic, metallic version of himself. As his ominous red eyes glowed towards Mega Man, he said to him, in a pure robotic and unholy sounding voice:

"Who needs a wussy Cloaking Machine when I have the power of an entire galaxy under my command! The Robot Creator has now become the Robot Master, no! THE ROBOT SUPREME!!"

With that, Wily then fired a blast of purple energy at Mega Man X from his hands, forcing him back to the nearby wall. Wily then charged at X with an amazing burst of speed, and X had dodged to avoid his powerful punch. X then kicked Wily in the back and had jumped back immediately to fire a Level 4 X-Buster blast at the mad doctor. The blast caused Wily to reel back, which only made him angry, and then he slammed his fist in the ground, causing energy spikes to form all around X. As X jumped out of the virtual prison of energy, he was suddenly hit in mid-air by Wily's metallic punch, which caused him to fall violently to the ground. X charged his weapon as he regained his composure, and he fired a huge, Level 6 blast at a charging Dr. Wily, which forced him to the nearby wall upon impact. Growling with rage as X dashed towards him, the insane man-robot had outstretched his arms and unleashed four purple orbs of luminous energy towards his foe. The orbs converged towards Mega Man and were practically unavoidable, and they hit Mega Man with such force that the blue Hunter was forced to the ground in sheer pain. He groaned and remained kneeled to the floor as Dr. Wily walked towards him, cackling evilly all the while.

As this was happening, back in the reactor room, Zero wasn't doing all that well. With their Beam Sabres dropped, both he and Sigma began an old-fashioned fist fight. While Zero fought bravely and valiantly like a true warrior, he was no match for Sigma, who's strength had been augmented by the Orion Crystal's power. Sigma continuously punched Zero in the stomach, and gave him a blow to the head with his forearm. Zero fell to the ground flat on his back, coughing up circualtory fluids and trying in vain to get back up, but most of his strength was gone. Sigma smirked in glee as he pushed his foot square on Zero's stomach and with the wave of a hand, had brought his Beam Sabre to his hand telekinetically. He said down to Zero, "Dark Phantom was right about one thing, the future IS inevitable! My future to rule this human-infested Earth, and your future to die like a dog!" Zero groaned in sheer pain as Sigma stepped down harder on his stomach.

At the same time, Metal-Wily stood over a still-kneeling-and-in-pain X and gave him an uppercut square to the jaw, making him fly and crash into the cockpit's platform, and fall down to the floor face-down, weak and barely conscious. Wily laughed maniacally and walked towards his adversary casually as he said to him, "I never did find out what Dr.Light saw in you when you were Rock! Now I see you are now nothing more than a pathetic shell of your former self! And after all the years and all the times I was imprisoned, humiliated, and nearly killed by you, I can finally repay the favor! IN SPADES!! MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

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"Here it is, guys! I found it!", shouted Buzzsaw as he came out of a nearby brush.

Buzzsaw, Auroran Flash, Royaltie, Scorch, and Duo had managed to find the spot in the desert where Uni-Sigma stood silent. It stood right in front of the crumbled remains of Skull Castle. The four Reploids and Duo all ran to its location, and Royaltie said as they all looked up, "I don't like this, you guys. I don't like the feel of this one bit."

"You're right, Roll.", added Scorch nervously, "X and Zero are in danger. I can feel it."

"Duo? Can X and Zero win against Sigma and Dr. Wily?", inquired Aurie.

Duo wore a melancholy look over his face as he replied, "No. Not until I could break the link between those two and the Orion Crystal."

Buzzsaw yelled, "There has to be SOMETHING we could do?!"

Duo changed his look to a look of pure determination. After a moment of thought, he said to the four Hunters, "Go back to the nearby desert brush and hide Stand ready in case Uni-Sigma activates again. I'm going to help X and Zero."

"What will you do, Duo?", asked Scorch.

"I'm taking a big risk, but there is no time left. I will break the Orion Crystal's link THROUGH X and Zero. Now, go! HURRY!" With that, the Hunters heeded Duo's request and ran behind the desert brush almost a mile away. As they stood there, they watched in surprise as Duo transformed into pure energy and said as he hovered in the air:

"My people! My galaxy! For their honor I must not fail! EnnnnnnnnnnAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

As he screamed in his otherworldly tone, he suddenly spilt himself into two comet-like balls of fire and had swirled around in a virtual dance for a few moments. The Hunters could do nothing but gape in awe as the two comets flew up and headed up the sky, towards the head of Uni-Sigma.

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Sigma still kept his foot pressed against Zero's stomach as he raised his Beam Sabre over his head, ready to deal the final blow. At the same time, Metal-Wily stood over the limp body of Mega Man X within the cockpit and had raised his fist to give his own strike. They both declared, almost in unison with each other:

"DEATH TO ALL WHO STAND AGAINST ME!!"

Just as they were about to finish our heroes off, the two comet-like fireballs had crashed through the ceiling of Uni-Sigma's skull, and one had rammed into Wily, sending him flying into the nearby wall. The other comet flew down to the reactor room almost immediately and had careened right into Sigma, sending him flying also into the nearby railing. With that accomplished, the two comets moved themselves into the limp, unconscious bodies of Mega Man X and Zero, bathing them in bright blue-colored flames of energy. As the energy burned within them, the two Reploids regained consciousness and felt their wounds healed and their energy restored. And as they thought in unison as to what just happened, they were both soon met by the presence and the voice of Duo:

"Mega Man! Zero! I have split my power upon the both of you to help you finish this war! Through you, I can break the link between Wily, Sigma, and the Orion Crystal. Through me, you can defeat them forever! Find the inner strengths within yourselves, and make the wishes of this dying world come true!"

With that said and done, both X and Zero got up off of the ground and wore pure looks of determination on their faces. X charged his X-Buster, while Zero picked up his Beam Sabre, and the mother of all final battles has begun:

As he continued to charge his blaster, X made a dashing punch towards Wily, who avoided it, and had retaliated with his own punch. X moved his head to avoid Wily's punch with the swiftness of a karate fighter and had grabbed Wily's arm and threw him over his head, sending him flying and landing in the middle of the room with a loud thud. Wily obviously did not take this lightly and had unleashed a fury-packed blast of energy from his hands, which X had quickly avoided. He wall-jumped to the ceiling and used his Dash-Boots to get to the other side of the room, but not before blasting Wily with a Level 5 X-Buster Blast on the way there. Weakened and infuriated, Wily unleashed another set of converging orbs at Mega Man, but X, using his newfound speed, managed to run from the blasts and they followed him as he dashed continuously. He decided to give Wily a dose of his own medicine as he dashed towards Wily and backflipped over him, allowing the converging orbs to hit the insane doctor instead, stunning him. Wily growled in sheer anger and cursed in a million different languages as X stood before him, charging his X-Buster again.

While this was happening, Zero charged towards Sigma with a furious burst of speed and with Beam Sabre drawn, only for the advance to be blocked. Again another furious swordfight has begun between the two, and after a few minutes, Sigma had cleverly kicked Zero in the leg, and had unleashed an electrical blast of lightning from his hand. Fortunately, Zero had seen this coming and had jumped the second before the shock reached him. He reached and clung to a nearby wall, and had jumped down to avoid another one of Sigma's blasts. Upon landing, Zero saw that Sigma was about to again fire his forehead blasts again. Holding his Beam Sabre, Zero batted the balls back at him in true Mark McGwire fashion, and the spread fire hit Sigma in all places at once. As he stood there stunned, Sigma was not prepared to see Zero charging towards him, and in the blink of an eye, one of Sigma's arms (the one holding the Beam Sabre) was chopped off. Sigma reeled back in absolute pain and felt his injury as Zero charged again and screamed, "THIS IS FOR MY BROTHER!!"

At the same time, X took aim at Wily with his X-Buster and yelled, "THIS IS FOR DR.LIGHT!!"

What happened next? Zero drove his Beam Sabre square into Sigma's heart, and X fired a Level 6 X-Buster Blast right in Wily's chest, leaving them badly damaged and surprised as they felt their power slip away.

Sigma screamed as his robotic body was suddenly decomposing and wasting away before Zero's eyes. Soon, all that remained was the gridlined, virus form of Sigma. As for Wily, his body suddenly went into convulsions and he was soon bathed into a bright light while he screamed in terror. After a second, the light dimmed and he was his normal self again. All of this meant only one thing:

Duo had done it. Through X and Zero's true fighting spirits, he managed to break the Orion Crystal's link to the two villains. Their immortality and infinite power was no more, but it was not over yet.

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"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! MY BODY! MY PRECIOUS POWER! HOW COULD YOU HAVE DONE THIS TO ME!, yelled Sigma as he stood before Zero in his viral state.

"You've lost, Sigma!", said Zero, "Your immortality and power is gone! There's nothing you can do now but give up!"

Sigma merely smirked and replied, "Oh no, you're wrong Zero! As long as I am this virus, I can never be destroyed! I am STILL and always will be a GOD! Now I will do what I should have done in the first place, and possess YOU!" With that, suddenly, in a surprising burst of speed, Virus-Sigma had charged and entered the body of an unprepared Zero, and Zero suddenly felt as if all of his internal components were burning as he kneeled to the floor.

Inside of the network of wires, synapses, and framework that was Zero's body, Virus-Sigma had flew through the body's virtual data stream and had headed for Zero's mind. Just as Sigma was about to enter Zero's mind and take control of his body completely, suddenly, a gold strand of light had come out of nowhere and had taken Sigma by the arm, paralyzing his arm. He roared in pain as he tried in vain to take the strand off of his arm, but to no avail, as touching it caused more pain. As he screamed, "WHAT'S GOING ON??!! WHAT'S HAPPENING??!!", thousands more golden strands came out from all areas of Zero's internal complex and had covered Virus-Sigma's body like wrappings on a mummy, leaving only his head exposed. As Sigma yelped out in agony at this turn of events, he was suddenly met by the mental image of Zero:

"Z............ZERO!!"

"Yes, Sigma! It wasn't a bad plan to try and possess my body, but you made one fatal mistake! You failed to realize that when I carried the virus, I was protected from it with my own anti-virus program. That day when we fought in the warehouse, the "W" that appeared on my forehead was a warning, meaning that the anti-virus was weakening, and retreating into the corners of my mind due to the stress of our battle, leaving me open to the virus. If it hadn't been for you or Dr. Cain, the virus would have taken me too. Luckily, my anti-virus was never found, and all it took was Dr. Doppler's anti-virus to reawaken it again!"

"N...........NOOOOOO!! YOU.........TRICKED............MEEEEEEE!!"

"No Sigma! You tricked yourself when you thought you were invincible, and when you thought you were greater above all else! Now you will pay for your crimes against humanity! WELCOME TO HELL!!"

With that, the mental image of Zero disappeared, and more golden anti-bodies appeared and covered Sigma's head as he yelled these last words:

"I AM A GOD! I CAN'T BE..........DESTROYED!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

As Sigma continued to scream forever in agony within Zero's body, back in the reactor room, Zero himself had laid down to the floor, still groaning in pain. Zero had done it. Zero defeated Sigma! But it seems he would not be around to savor this victory, as he felt his body shutting down slowly because of the overwhelming power of the anti-virus. He laid there, still groaning but not moving.

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"W.....Wha? What happened to my beautiful power?!", cried Dr. Wily, very much a human again.

"Wily!", said Mega Man X as he walked towards the grounded doctor. Wily crawled away from Mega Man as he walked, and had reached the wall just as Mega Man said, "Your power is gone, Wily! This war is over! Make it easier on yourself and give up!"

Wily first looked scared, but then wore a look of anger as he picked up a nearby metal rod and got up. He smacked X in the head, leaving him reeling in pain as Wily said, "I will NOT lose to you again, Mega Man! Not now! NOT EVER!!" He then continued to swing at X furiously, while X moved away from each swing. Their dance moved from the cockpit room to the nearby balcony, where after a few more swings, X had finally grabbed the rod in mid-swing, threw Wily towards the nearby railing, and took the rod out of his hand. He hit the railing with such force, he suddenly rolled on it and over the balcony, sending him falling down. X ran to the balcony to see that Wily had caught the lower rung of a nearby ladder and is hanging on several feet over the open hole in Uni-Sigma's reactor.

X reached for Wily, saying, "Give me your hand, Wily! If you reach for me, you can make it!" Wily took his free hand and tried to reach for X, but after a second, he suddenly wore a blank expression on his face and put his hand down. X screamed, "WILY! MY HAND!" He then heard Wily say:

"No Mega Man! In all the years I lost to you, I realize now that I could never match your power. Dr.Light was never a fool when he created you. I now admit he was a genius, and I am tired of this struggle. I'm glad I had the chance to fight one more battle against you, and now it is time I became one with the technology I so love! Tell Zero I died happily, and live well, Mega Man X!"

"WILY!!!"

With that said and done, Dr. Albert Wily, mad scientist and enemy to Mega Man, had let go of the ladder and made a glorious free fall into Uni-Sigma's reactor. He laughed maniacally one last time as he fell through the upper hole and into the reactor's core, disintegrating him completely.

Dr. Wily was no more. He was gone forever and could never come back.

As this happened, Zero regained what little consciousness he had left and had muttered, "Goodbye..............father.............." He then laid still.

X turned his head away from Wily's death, but he had little time to mourn as he looked up to hear alarms ringing out from all areas of the Uni-Sigma robot. X screamed out, "DUO! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" The image of Duo appeared before X and said to him, "X! Wily's suicide had caused an imbalance in Uni-Sigma's reactor. It is becoming unstable and could blow in a matter of minutes!"  


X replied, "But! If it explodes........it could destroy half of this world!"

Duo said back, "I know X, but there is nothing we could do! We must leave NOW!"

X turned his head and began to think clearly about what to do. He suddenly thought back to when he spoke to Dr. Light's last recording in his old lab, and had remembered him saying:

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"Now go down to the basement of this lab and gain the last enhancement I can give you. It is a complete body enhancement that will enforce your power a hundred fold, and it will give you a Giga Crush attack that will destroy anything within a 5-mile radius, but be careful using it, as it will use ALL of your systems."

Snapping back into reality, X now knows what he must do. He turns to Duo's image and says to him, "Duo! Pull yourself back together and get Zero out of here! I'm going to use my Giga Crush to absorb all of the reactor's energy and explode it harmlessly! It's our only chance!"

Duo's image replied, "But.......you could DIE!"

X said back, "I'm not worried about that now! I'm more worried about saving the people of this world! Go and get Zero out of here, NOW! GOOOOOO!!"

With that, Duo nodded his head in agreement and his image disappeared. The part of Duo within X had painlessly came out of X's body and had sped over the balcony down to the reactor. More determined now than ever, X pressed a button on his blaster arm, activating the damage-absorbing capabilities of the Giga Crush. Taking in a deep breath, and realizing he might not make it out of this, Mega Man X had sprinted towards the balcony and made a Herculean leap over the railing and towards the opening on top of the reactor.

Outside of the robot, as if they knew what X was doing, Scorch and Royaltie screamed, "MEEEEEEEEEEGAAAAA MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!"

Back inside, X made a perfect dive into the core of the reactor, and upon landing into it, he felt bolts of energy crackling all throughout his body as he floated within. As he felt extreme pain, he raised his blaster arm to see the G.Crush meter is halfway full. He gritted his teeth and moaned in agony, and felt as if every external and internal part of his body was about to burn up and disintegrate like Wily did. Finally, a bell sounded on his blaster arm, indicating the Giga Crush was up to full power, and nearly all of the reactor's energy was well-absorbed into Mega Man X. With true heroism painted on his face, he outstretched his arms and legs, yelled out the words "GIGA CRUSH!!!", and had let out a huge blast of incredible explosive energy from all areas of his body. He was engulfed in white light as the entire interior of Uni-Sigma's body began to explode.

Outside, Aurie said to Scorch and Royaltie, "What happened?! What's going on?!" Scorch looked at Aurie and sadly replied, "He's......." Suddenly, everything was interrupted as a LOUD explosion was heard coming from the Uni-Sigma robot. Aurie, Scorch, Buzz, and Royaltie took cover as explosion after explosion rocked the skeletal giant until finally, it blew up in an incredible blazing fireball, sending shockwaves that could be felt from Enlitia, to Mocpac City, to cities all around the world.

After that incredible display, all was silent. Like the calm after a raging storm. But what was to happen now? 

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Proceed To Chapter 17!

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	19. Chapter 17: Never Say Goodbye

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Chapter 17: Never Say Goodbye

"MEGA MAN!!! ZEEEEEEROOOO!!!"

As they walked through the smoldering, scattered wreckage of Uni-Sigma, Scorch, Auroran Flash, Buzzsaw, and Royaltie all searched for any signs that Mega Man X and Zero could still be alive. They looked under a couple of twisted metal plates, but still found nothing.

Aurie stammeringly said, "Please X! You can't be dead!"

Buzzsaw put his hands on Aurie's shoulders and replied, "Don't give up hope, Aurie! If they're alive, we'll find them!" They both then continued the search further down the path.

Scorch looked towards more of the wreckage and said to himself, "I really don't know if X survived this."

Royaltie overheard what he said and said to him, "Scorch! Do you actually believe that our brother is........DEAD?!"

Scorch continued to look onward as he replied, "I could sense what he was doing, almost as if I could actually see it. The Uni-Sigma robot's reactor had enough power to blow a large hole on this planet, and it was reaching critical mass. X........he........" He suddenly stopped talking and saw a gleam of light only a few inches from where he was standing. He said, "Look, Roll! Over there!", and they both ran to see the light was coming from under a metal slab. They both lifted the slab and threw it aside to see what was under it. Royaltie immediately said, "X? Are you in here?"

It wasn't X, though. It was the Orion Crystal, apparently unharmed by the explosion.

"The Orion Crystal!", yelled Scorch as he went in and picked it up. His reflection gleamed off of the hexagonal surface of the Crystal as he said, "Duo will be happy to have this back!" Royaltie turned towards his visor-wearing brother, "But Proto! We still need to find....."

"X!!!"

Scorch and Royaltie ran further down the path to see Aurie and Buzzsaw standing near a crater, the apparent "ground zero" of where Uni-Sigma exploded, and they all looked down to see what they feared the most.

Mega Man X, lying backside down in the middle of the crater, still and not moving.

They all ran down to X's body, yelling out "X!!" all the while. When they finally reached to him, they saw his face had the look of death, and there was no sign of movement. This only meant one thing to the Hunters:

X was gone.

Scorch dropped the Orion Crystal in disbelief. Royaltie yelled out, "X! NOOOOOO!!", and had cried as she hugged Scorch in comfort. Buzzsaw also cried and turned his back to hide the tears. As for Aurie, tears streamed down her face as he kneeled down next to X's body. She put her hand to his as she said, "Oh X! It should have been me in there! I never told you what I had to say! It's ALL MY FAULT!!" She then buried her face in his chest and cried.

Buzzsaw turned back around, with tears still present on his face, and said, "At least we know now.......X died a hero. He will always be in my heart." He then saluted X solemnly.

Scorch spoke out as he had Royaltie in his arms, "Dr. Light would have been proud of you, X. I still wish I could have you back, but I guess wishes only happen in fairy tales." He then hugged Royaltie again as tears became visible from under his visor.

Suddenly, as if it heard Scorch's wish, the Orion Crystal glowed bright purple with a blue aura around it. It continued to glow as Aurie said to X, "You'll always be a hero in my heart." She then leaned over to kiss him. As she kissed him, a blue (yes, BLUE!) bolt of energy came out of the tip of the Orion Crystal and had struck X square in the chest. No one saw what the Crystal was doing, as everyone had their eyes closed in mourning. The crystal had finished his work as Aurie stopped her good-bye kiss and raised her head. She said solemnly to him, "Good-bye............Meggy."

"Don't........call........me........Meggy."

Aurie screamed as she jumped back in surprise. Everyone opened their eyes in reaction to Aurie's outburst, and they all looked towards X's body. Aurie shyly stepped forward and said, "X?"

X had groaned and sat up as he said, "It's really embarrassing when you call me that!"

Aurie's surprised look turned to a look of pure happiness as she squealed "MEGGY!!" in pure delight and ran to hug him. She softly said to X, "I thought I had lost you forever, X." X replied to her, softly, "You'll never lose me, Aurie. I promised I would come back to be with you, and I did." They then both let go, and X was soon hugged by Royaltie, overcome by tears of happiness. X said to his sister, "Hi, Sis.", and Royaltie said back, "Oh, X! YOU SCARED ME!!" They then let go.

"You scared us all, X!", added Scorch, "But I'm so glad I have you back, bro!" He then went to hug him as X said, "Thanks, Proto!" They then let go and X was soon met by Buzzsaw *the RIGHTEOUS and don't you forget it! ^_^*

Buzz said to X as he shook his hand, "You were great, X! You truly are the most RIGHTEOUS Reploid in the world!"

As X let go of Buzz's hand, the azure Hunter replied with a smirk on his face, "No Buzz! YOU are the righteous one! You helped support me throughout this long battle, and you have a righteous Enchanted Blade, too!" Everyone laughed at that remark.

Buzzsaw let the laughs roll off of his back and he asked X, "So what exactly happened in there?"

X cleared his throat and told everyone, "I fought a battle against Dr. Wily and won. He had power that I never seen before, but thanks to Duo, I beat him!"

Scorch said to X, "What happened to Dr. Wily? Did he get away......AGAIN?"

X replied, "No. He committed suicide after our battle ended, saying he was sick of this war and he wanted to die happily."

Scorch stood silent for a minute, then he said, "Well, as mad as Dr. Wily was, I guess he wanted to die with dignity."

Royaltie stepped into the crowd and asked everyone, "Ummmmm.........guys? Where's Zero?"

X wore a look of uncertainty and told everyone, "I told Duo to get Zero out of there. Did you find them?"

Before the others could answer, faint sounds of robotic stomping came from afar. The Hunters looked on towards a plume of smoke as a figure stepped through it.

It was Duo, holding a limp and lifeless Zero in his arms as he walked.

"Duo!", yelled Mega Man as he and his friends ran to see their friend. As they got there, Duo kneeled, had gently laid Zero to the ground, and had gotten up again. X kneeled before Zero and felt to see if he was alive, but the crimson Reploid did not move. Fearing the worst, X looked at Duo and asked him, "What happened to Zero?! Is he......."

"Mega Man.", interrupted Duo, "Zero is not dead. But because of the battle with Sigma, his body lies dormant. I was fortunate to get Zero out of there before the reactor exploded, but there was nothing I could do to awaken him. Perhaps it is best if you heard what happened from Zero himself."

"How can we do that?" inquired Buzzsaw.

Duo raised his oversized hand and, like magic, the Orion Crystal came to him and rested on his palm. He then held it over Zero's body and said, "Crystal! Use your power to grant Zero's wish! Allow him to talk to his friends!" Then, the Crystal glowed bright purple with a blue aura around it, and the same bolt of energy that restored X had came out of the Crystal's tip and hit Zero in the chest. Zero glowed in red bright light as the bolt finished its work, and suddenly, like a clip from a horror movie, a virtual ghost of Zero had appeared from Zero's body, and stood up before the Hunters.

"Zero?", said X. They all listened as Zero spoke:

"Mega Man X! Everyone! The presence of Sigma will haunt us no more! I had found a lost anti-virus program within my systems that protected me from the very virus that Wily created! I had strengthened it again with the help of Doppler's own anti-virus stored in Dr. Cain's personal files, and had trapped Sigma within my own body when the time was right. Little by little, the anti-virus will strip away every ounce of Sigma's binary code and every branch of the virus that Sigma left. Soon Sigma will be gone for good and the Mavericks will become a memory."

"But......Zero! What about you?!", queried X as he faced his friend.

Zero lowered his eyes as he said, "I'm sorry X, but...........I'm afraid I won't be around for quite a while. Because it is not known when I will wake up. It could be weeks, months, maybe even a couple of years. All I know is that the anti-virus had shut down my systems to keep me from being corrupted, and it will not allow me to wake up until the Sigma Virus is completely destroyed. I'm sorry I never told you all."

Zero's image stepped before the group and he said his individual good-byes:

"Scorch. Royaltie. I hope you can forgive me for my past sins when I was Bass and Zero. And I hope you live well."

Scorch said, "I forgive you, Zero. Robots can truly find salvation when they are Reploids. I know that now."

Royaltie said, "I hope you wake up soon, Zero. And thank you for everything!"

"Buzzsaw. I'm sorry we never got to settle our bet. Maybe someday we can, and have good times again."

Buzzsaw said, "I can wait. Expect a hero's welcome when you do awaken, my RIGHTEOUS friend!"

"Aurie. Do me a personal favor, and take care of X for me. He'll need a shoulder to lean on while I am resting."

Aurie said, "Okay, Zero! You can count on me to look after Meggy!" She giggled after that remark. X blushed and rolled his eyes.

Finally, Zero's image stood before X and said to him, "X. Again I want to say..........I'm glad I became your best friend. Once I awaken, we'll have nothing but good times again. I promise!"

X wore a proud look on his face as he said, "We fought great battles, Zero. It feels like dejavu, not seeing you again for awhile."

"I will be back, X.", said Zero, "Tell Dr. Cain to have my body protected, and also tell him.........that there is another symptom that causes Reploids to go Maverick, not just the Sigma Virus. And it must be dealt with."

"What symptom is that?", asked X. Zero's image didn't answer immediately. He walked away from X and his image began to fade as he laid back down in his body on the ground. Before he completely faded, however, Zero had said one last thing:

"Unacceptance!" The image then faded completely, and Zero was once again silent. Everyone stood in a moment of silence to remember Zero and his bravery.

"Unacceptance?", said Buzzsaw, "What did he mean by that?"

"I think I know what he meant." replied X. "Lately I have seen some Reploids treated like dirt by their human masters, as if they were emotionless robots. And Repliforce revolted against us because we accused them wrongly of murder, and we should've known it was Sigma all along. We need to find a way to make peace between humans and Reploids, and help make Dr. Light's dream come true." Everyone cheered "YEAH!" at that remark.

Duo smiled at X's speech and proudly said, "You truly are a good man, Mega Man. With your help, this planet will survive."

X took Duo's smaller hand and said to him, "What will you do now, Duo?"

Duo looked down at X and replied, "My work here is finally finished. I will travel the farthest reaches of the universe and use the Crystal's power to help those in need. With every good deed, The Orion Crystal will reclaim every ounce of the good energy it once had, and I will rebuild my home galaxy." Letting go of X's hand, he then turned to everybody and finished, "I thank you for all you have done for me! Someday I hope to come and visit, since you are the best friends anyone has ever had! Farewell to you, Maverick Hunters! And thank you!"

"GOODBYE DUO!", said everybody.

With all that said and done, and with Orion Crystal in tow, Duo transformed into his comet-like ball form and had sped away from the group with incredible blazing speed into the sky until there was nothing left but a shooting star. Duo was gone.

"Soooooooo, where do we go from here?", inquired Aurie.

X scooped up Zero's body in his arms and replied, "We go home........and look forward towards a better future!"

Buzzsaw added, "I wouldn't have it any other way, my friend! Any other way!"

With those final words, all of our heroes (Zero included) had walked away from the Uni-Sigma wreckage and headed towards the horizon. Towards Enlitia. Towards their home. Towards the unknown future ahead.

Nowadays, in the crumbled remains of Skull Castle, one could almost hear the ghostly voice of Dark Phantom, Zero's brother, constantly call out, in a voice filled with good intentions:

"THE FUTURE IS INEVITABLE!!!"

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	20. Epilogue

****

Epilogue

Two weeks later................

Hordes of news reporters, camera crews, and photographers had gathered all around the front steps of Enlitia's City Hall to prepare for a media news event. A week earlier, most of the world's leaders gathered at an undisclosed location in the Florida Keys to start their rather-delayed Peace Conference. They discussed many issues, including the stoppage of the worldwide illegal drug trade and the use of special cars that filter out harmful contaminants, eliminating a large chunk of environmental pollution. When they finally reached the issue of Reploid/Human relations, history was made. After hearing several arguments from passionate humans, politicians, Reploids, and Dr. Cain himself, the leaders had decided to draft a bill that allows equal rights for all Reploids, and it was reported to have passed through Congress today and became law. Happy about this news, Dr. Cain called for a press conference at Enlitia's City Hall to give his own feedback on this historical event. Flashbacks aside, Dr. Cain walks up to the podium in front of City Hall and is watched by the world as he prepares to speak:

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen! Today is a day of destiny for all mankind, and for all Reploid-kind most of all! The bill drafted by the delegation of world leaders had today became law, declaring that all Reploids around the world should have the same equal rights alongside humans, and that serving humans should only be THEIR choice. Indeed, this is a true victory for this war of words, which is in pale contrast to the real war we previously fought. Two weeks ago, my Maverick Hunters have finally ended the menace of Sigma and the Maverick Army, and now the Sigma Virus is contained and still in the process of being eradicated. However, I was sad to hear that the virus wasn't the only factor in Reploids going Maverick. The other revealed factor is unacceptance! Many humans still view Reploids as their emotionless servants, and they are therefore treated as such. Sometimes their masters resort to force to make sure their Reploids do as they are told, which leads the Reploid to revolt, sometimes rather violently. This is a pure example of extreme prejudice, and a grim reminder of the ancient 1800's, when African-American humans were constantly prejudiced, sold as slaves, worked to the bone, tortured, even killed by Caucasian humans because they were different. It is human nature to fear those different from us, but eventually we must get to know everyone around us in order to truly co-exist. We must not give orders to Reploids, we must ask for their help! We must not treat Reploids as our slaves, we must treat them as our equals, and learn to live together with them as our brothers, our sisters, our FRIENDS! Let us not start our future with war, hate, and violence, let us start our future hand-in-hand together! Not as humans! Not as Reploids! But as ONE RACE united on this peaceful, beautiful, planet Earth!"

Upon the end of Cain's speech, everyone cheered, clapped, and yelled in pure happiness. Cameras flashed and reporters spoke in different tongues and phrases at this, what would be called, a true victory for all who live on Earth.

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Meanwhile, at the all-too familiar TV store in Enlitia, Buzzsaw, Slash, and Ice Blue X all watched the historical press conference and they all shared their emotions on it.

"Wow! That was a cool speech!", said Ice Blue X.

"I'll say! I was almost moved to the point of tears!", said Slash.

"Yeah! Maybe now things can finally settle into normality!", said Buzzsaw.

"Say Buzz!", said Icey, "Now that this war is finally over, what are you going to do now?"

In response to that, Buzz replied, "Hmmmm....you know? I haven't really thought of that, since battle made up most of my lifestyle? I wonder....."

"Well, you know what I'm going to do?", said Slash, "I'm going to get my lazy metal butt out of this city and see the world!"

"Not me, dude!", added Icey, "I'm going to go to a nice tropical island with sunny beaches and umbrella drinks and live the rest of my life partying and resting! BOOYAH!"

"Have you decided what to do, Buzz?", inquired Slash.

After a moment of thought, he finally said, "Well, I think I'm just going to move back to my hometown of Winter City, and live the rest of my days with my family and my girlfriend, Serenade."

"SERENADE?!", yelled both Slash and Icey in unison. Buzzsaw pulled out a picture and showed it to the two Reploids. The pic showed a beautiful girl Reploid, suited in green armor similar to that of Buzz's, with long, silky black hair, and she looked nearly similar to that of a video game character *HINT! Final Fantasy 7 anyone?? My favorite character?? heeheehee ;)*

"Wow! She's pretty!", exclaimed Slash.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Buzz.", said Icey in surprise.

"Yeah, well! She and I are pretty close." said Buzz. He looked at his watch and said again, "Speaking of which, I gotta pick her up! She's supposed to come here today! I'll see you guys later!" With that, he waved bye to his friends and ran down the street, leaving them dumbfounded.

"Wow! Buzz sure is lucky!", said Slash. He then heard Icey declare with a grin:

"Nope! He's not just lucky! He's RIGHTEOUS!"

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"Go ahead in. You only have a couple of minutes."

A door opened in a dark room within Maverick Hunter Headquarters, and two figures looked at the capsule at the end of the room while they stood in the doorway. This capsule had Energy Tanks and a heart monitor attached to it, and inside it was none other than Zero, still lying there still and motionless. One of the figures walked to the capsule and her identity became visible in the reflection of the glass on the capsule.

It was Iris. Rebulit, alive and well.

"Hello Zero." said Iris. "I know it's kinda weird meeting you like this, and I know you might not hear me, but I want to say this. I'm sorry about what happened on the Final Weapon."

The second figure walked and stood next to Iris and put his hand around her shoulder and said, in a Southern accent, "I'm sorry too, Zero." It was Iris's brother, Colonel, also rebuilt. He continued to say:

"I admit I was too overzealous to see the truth behind Sigma's plan. I hope you could find it in your heart to forgive me. What I did was dishonorable, but what you did now makes me glad to be your friend."

Iris continued to say to Zero, "I can't wait for you to recover. Someday, we will be together again, and maybe we can get married!"

Colonel looked down at his sister and said to her as he smiled, "And I look forward to Zero becoming my brother-in-law." Iris giggled and smiled at that remark.

Suddenly, a MHHQ guard stepped into the doorway and said, "Your time is up." Both Iris and Colonel nodded their heads at the guard, and had said their individual good-byes at Zero:

"Good-bye Zero.", said Iris as she put her hand on the capsule over Zero's face, "I love you."

"Rest well, soldier. You've earned it.", said Colonel as he saluted.

With that, Iris let go and they both left the capsule room. After the door closed behind them, the heart monitor attached to the capsule suddenly began to beep once every second.

Zero had smiled.

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"Ennuuggghhhh! We are not cutting down this tree, Dumbo!", shouted Frost Walrus as he tried to saw down the tree in the forest with a herring.

"Just keep sawing! Something's gotta give!", said Flame Mammoth as he leaned against a tree.

Finally, Walrus threw down the rather mangled herring in disgust and said to Mammoth, "Aw forget it! It's no use! We've been doing this for two weeks straight now! Cutting down a tree with a herring just can't be done!"

Mammoth added, "Well, what do you want to do? We can't go back now, since those Ni Mavericks, or whatever they are, will be expecting their tree and shrubbery!"

With a more calm demeanor now, Walrus replied, "You know Mammoth, I've been thinking a lot lately about our future. Maybe we should shuck this Maverick gig and strive to lead a better life somewhere. I mean, I've always wanted to go to a North Pole iceberg and retire there."

"Yeah.", said Mammoth as he was deep in thought. "I've always wanted to live near an active volcano and live out my last days in peace." Snapping into reality, he turned to Walrus and said, "You're right, Walrus! Being a Maverick is strictly for the birds! Let's turn ourselves in and tell 'em we're willing to change!"

"Okay, Mammoth!", said Walrus, "But first, let's go to Mocpac City and get some soup! I'm starving!" 

Mammoth replied, "Yeah! Let's go!" As they walked out of the forest and towards the horizon, they both said to one another:

"You do owe me a free soup since that LAST TIME!"

"Geez, Dumbo! I'm hating the fact that elephants never forget!"

"Don't call me Dumbo, Tuskbreath!"

"DUMBO!"

"TUSKBREATH!"

"DUMBO!!"

"TUSKBREATH!!"

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On a grassy hill a ways from the city of Enlitia, X, Scorch, and Royaltie all sat on the edge of the hill, looking up at the fiery-red sunset sky. They all talked to each other as they looked:

"Hey X? What's wrong?" said Royaltie as she looked at her brother.

X snapped into reality and said to his sister, "Oh! Ummmm.....nothing's wrong. I was just thinking about Dr. Light, and how his dream finally became reality today. I wonder if he's looking down at us from Heaven now, and I wonder if he's proud of us, smiling, stuff like that."

"I'm sure he is, bro." added Scorch. "I miss him though, and I'm going to miss the battles we fought for this moment. But you know what, I enjoy the life Dr. Light gave us and the peace we have, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"You're right, Scorch.", said X.

"Totally, bro.", said Royaltie.

With that, the three siblings held hands in a loving way, signifying that they would always be together. Their tender moment would soon be interrupted by a cheerful voice hollering:

"Hi you guys!" It was Auroran Flash.

The three siblings got up and looked at Aurie. Aurie said to them, "I'm sorry! Did I interrupt something?"

"No you didn't.", said Scorch with a smirk, "In fact me and Roll were just leaving. We'll meet you back at the HQ, X." He then began to leave.

"Hey, X.", whispered Royaltie in X's ear. "Don't let her intimidate you just cause she's a girl." She then giggled and left to join Scorch.

"Thanks a LOT, Roll.", said X quietly with a smirk. X and Aurie were now alone.

"Can I watch the sun set with you, X?", said Aurie as she cutefully blinked her eyes.

"Sure, Aurie.", said X. "And you can call me Meggy."

Aurie beamed at that remark and replied, "Okay.......MEGGY!" She then giggled and skipped happily to join X next to him.

As they watched the sunset, Aurie turned to X, saying, "Hey Meggy, now that the war is finally over, what are you going to do now?"

X thought about that for a moment, and had replied, "I think I will settle down here with my brother and sister. Well rebulid Dr. Light's lab and live there, just like old times. What will you do, Aurie?"

Aurie replied, "Oh LOTS of stuff! I want to climb the highest mountain, cross the deepest seas, explore where no one's ever explored, all kinds of stuff! I want to see the world!"

X smiled down at Aurie and softly said to her, "You know what you should really do?" Aurie looked at X as he said, "You should find yourself a good man."

Aurie smiled sweetly at X and softly said to him, "But I already have a good man."

Their eyes locked on each other for a full moment until, finally, Aurie reached up to X and gave him a long, deep kiss. X didn't even try to fight it, he almost immediately melted into it and he took her in his arms. They embraced lovingly and kissed passsionately, and as Aurie's hair blew free in the wind, they continued to kiss as the sun set behind them, as if it all were a cue from a romantic movie. After a few minutes when the sun finally set in the sky, they stopped kissing and let go of each other, leaving a dumbfounded X to reflect. Aurie skipped happily away from X and before she left, she said to him, "I'll see you back in town, Meggy! BYEEEEEEEEEE!" She then winked, giggled, and skipped happily away.

After Aurie left, Mega Man X still had that shocked look on his face. And as he pressed his fingers against his lips and let go, he said five words that he never thought he would say about Aurie.

"I think I'm in love."

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Well folks, that's it! I sincerely hope you enjoyed this story, as it was a LOT of work, and I had to take a lot of crap from my Mom about it! (don't ask). In fact, I pray to God himself that you enjoyed this story! I would now like to take the time to thank all those who supported me, including Ice Blue X (my Mega Princess!), Luna Tiger (my Mega Tigress!), Blazing Lion, Slash, Zebby, Destiny, Emerald, Gelgameth, X (not the one in the story, you know who you are! ^_~), and anyone else that I could've left out (PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!! I've worked on this sooooooo hard!) But most of all, I want to give very special thanks _to the one who inspired me the most. My Mega/Sephy Goddess, Aurie!! She was the one who inspired me to create this fanfic, and for that, she deserves much of the recognition and glory!!! Well, my mind is gettin' hazy!!! Perhaps someday there will be a new Mega Man X game and I will perhaps create a new fanfic! After all, as Dark Phantom says, "THE FUTURE IS INEVITABLE!!!"_

"May all your Mega Man days and Sephiroth dreams be happy and fruitful! ^_~"

Best wishes, **Buzzsaw the Righteous**

The End!!!! (YOU GO NOW!!!!!)

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